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COUNT  MIOT  DE   MELITO. 


MINISTER,  AMBASSADOR,  COUNCILLOR  OF  STATE, 

AND   MEMBER  OF   THE   INSTITUTE   OF   FRANCE,   BETWEEN   THE    YEARS 

1788    AND    1815. 


EDITED    BY 


GENERAL    FLEISCHMANN. 


Shorn  tljc  JFrrncf;  bg 
MRS.  CASHEL   HOEY   and   MR.  JOHN    LILLIE. 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES. 
Vol.  1. 

C  3      *     *  J  '      J       # 

■ .  ■  •  . '.  •  ■  .• 
,\     •    •-■•••-'•••   ■ 


LONDON: 
SAMPSON  LOW,  MARSTON,  SEARLE,  &  RIVINGTON, 

CROWN  BUILDINGS,  188  FLEET  STREET. 
1881. 


LONDON: 
PRINTED  BY  WILLIAM  CLOWES  AND  SONS,   Limited, 

STAMFORD   STREET   AND    CHARING   CROSS. 


... 


■      •  *        •    •     •       ,     , 

■••••«.! 


•  •     •    •  • 


PREFACE   BY  THE    EDITOR. 


My  purpose  in  placing  before  the  public  the  recol- 
lections of  Count  Miot,  my  father-in-law,  as  a  con- 
tribution to  the  large  number  of  works  which  treat 
of  the  Great  French  Revolution  and  the  events  of 
the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  is  to  aid 
writers  who  desire  to  throw  a  new  light  upon  the 
history  of  those  times.  I  believe  that  no  materials 
supplied  by  contemporaries  can  be  superfluous  for 
the  accurate  and  sufficient  representation  of  all  that 
was  memorable,  great  and  terrible  in  that  epoch, 
and  for  a  true  estimate  of  the  influence  which  it 
has  exercised  and  still  exercises  upon  the  destinies 
of  mankind. 

Count  Miot  passed  through  a  great  revolution, 
but  his  recollections  of  it  were  untinged  by  personal 
regret.  He  had  nothing  to  disguise  or  to  excuse.  It 
was  for  many  years  his  constant  habit  to  write 
down  every  evening  all  that  he  had  learned  or 
observed  during  the  day.  These  noies  of  the 
events  in  which  he   was  nearly  concerned,  contain 

226502 


iv  PREFACE  BY  THE  EDITOR. 

important  details,  for  the  most  part  unknown,  and 
place  the  origin  of  those  events  in  a  clear  and  accu- 
rate light.  In  arranging  them  to  meet  the  eyes 
of  the  public  I  have  thought  it  advisable  to  suppress 
all  that  possesses  interest  for  the  family  of  Count 
Miot  only,  but  I  have  scrupulously  refrained  from 
adding  anything  that  might  affect  the  nature  of  the 
impressions  which  were  produced  by  the  events  on 
the  mind  of  the  author.  This  book  must  not 
therefore  be  confounded  with  the  fabricated  Memoirs 
so  profusely  offered  to  the  public  within  the  last 
thirty  years ;  works  not  indeed  without  merit,  and 
in  many  instances  written  with  ability,  but  in  which 
their  reputed  authors  have  little  share. 

The  readers  of  his  Memoirs  will  probably  agree 
with  or  differ  from  Count  Miot's  views  and  judg- 
ment of  men  and  things,  according  to  their  own 
opinions,  likes  and  dislikes  ;  but  they  cannot  fail 
to  close  the  book  with  sentiments  of  esteem  and 
regard  for  its  author ;  as  a  good  man,  and  one  who 
sincerely  loved  his  country  and  mankind. 

General  Fleischmann. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I. 


PAGE 

.cREFACE       ..  ..  ,,  ,.  ..  ..  in 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Author  enters  upon  his  career — The  training-camp 
at  Saint-Omer — Cornte  de  Guibert — The  effect  produced 
upon  the  troops  by  an  ill-timed  attempt  to  introduce 
the  Prussian  system  of  military  organisation—The 
camp  is  abruptly  broken  up — The  changed  aspect  of  the 
Court  of  Versailles  at  the  close  of  the  year  1783 — The 
various  parties  at  the  Court — The  deputies  of  the  Tiers 
Etat  are  ill-received — Opening  of  the  States-General — 
Establishment  of  the  National  Guard — The  Court  forms 
projects  hostile  to  the  National  Assembly — The  banquet 
of  the  Body  Guard — Intention  of  the  Court  to  leave 
Versailles — Events  of  the  5th  and  6th  of  October — The 
King  and  the  Royal  Family  are  taken  to  Paris 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  10th  of  August,  1792 — The  Author  escapes  a  decree 
of  accusation — M.  Lacuee  provisional  Chief  of  the  War 
Department — Joseph  Servan,  Minister — The  Author 
ceases  to  be  Chief  of  Division  at  the  Ministry,  and  enters 
the  Administration  of  Military  Affairs  as  Comptroller- 
General — Servan  is  succeeded  in  the  Ministry  by  Pache 
and  Hassenfratz,   who   disorganise  its  administration — 


vi  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Pache  is  dismissed,  and  succeeded  by  Beurnonville- 
Thc  Author  resumes  his  former  post  at  the  Ministry — 
Bouchotte  succeeds  Beurnonville — The  Author  is  made 
Secretary-General  in  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs 
under  Deforgues — Sketches  of  some  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Terror — Fall  of  Deforgues,  who  is  succeeded  at  the 
Foreign  Office  by  a  schoolmaster  named  Buchot — The 
Author,  denounced  as  a  "  Moderate,"  is  placed  under  a 
decree  of  accusation,  together  with  MM.  Otto,  Colchen, 
and  Reinhart — They  are  saved  by  the  9th  Themidor — 
The  Author  is  appointed  Commissioner  of  Foreign 
Affairs — His  communications  with  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety — Treaties  of  peace  with  Tuscany  and 
Prussia..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..        36 


CHArTEK  III. 

The  Author  is  appointed  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany — The  12th  Germinal — The 
Author  embarks  at  Marseilles  for  Genoa,  and  proceeds 
from  thence  to  Florence — Report  to  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety  on  the  political  state  of  Florence — Diffi- 
culties caused  by  the  presence  of  the  French  Emigres  at 
Leghorn,  and  by  the  ill-will  of  the  Tuscan  authorities 
towards  the  Republic — General  Buonaparte  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  army  of  Italy — Opening  of  the 
campaign  and  series  of  victories  obtained  by  the  young 
General — The  Governments  of  Italy  take  steps  towards 
obtaining  peace — The  Author  determines  to  proceed  to 
Buonaparte's  headquarters  ..  ..  ..        70 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Tho  Author's  interview  with  General  Buonaparto — Con- 
clusion of  the  armistice  between  the  General  and  Prince 
Pignatelli,    Plenipotentiary     at    Naples—The    Author 


CONTENTS.  vii 


PAGB 


returns  to  Florence — Tie    goes    away    again    to    visit 
General  Buonaparte  at  Bologna — His  interview  with  him 
— The  Author  does  not  succeed  in  preventing  the  viola- 
tion of  the  neutrality  of  Tuscany  and  the  occupation  of 
Leghorn  by  the  French — In  returning  from  Leghorn, 
General  Buonaparte  stops  at  Florence,  visits  the  Grand 
Duke  and  dines  with  him — A  treaty  being  concluded 
between  the  Pope  and  the  French  Eepublic,  the  Author 
goes  to  Eome  to  secure  the  fulfilment  of  its  conditions — 
The  gloomy  fanaticism  reigning  in  Rome — Some  discon- 
tented Italians  having  claimed  the  intervention  of  the 
French  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  Republican  Insti- 
tutions in  Italy,  the  Author,  instructed  by  the  Directory 
to  inform  them  of  his  views,  strongly  opposes  the  project 
— Being  superseded  by  Cacault  in  the  duty  of  superin- 
tending the  fulfilment  of  the  terms  of  the  armistice  at 
Rome,  the  Author  returns  to  Florence — Rumours  of  the 
reverses    experienced    by    Buonaparte    produce    great 
excitement  in  Italy — The  Governments  no  longer  con- 
ceal their  tendencies,  and  the  Author  sends  M.  Freville 
to  Paris  to  point  out  to  the  Directory  the  necessity  of 
excluding  Austria  from  all  influence  in  Italy,  and  of 
destroying    the    Papal    Government — The    Author    is 
appointed  Ambassador  at  Turin,  but  before  entering  upon 
the  exercise  of   his  functions,  he  has  to    undertake  a 
mission  to  Corsica  as  Commissioner- Extraordinary  of  the 
Government — Sketch  of  the  State  of  Tuscany,  the  con- 
ditions of  life,  and  customs  of  the  Florentines  ..        <J\) 


CHAPTER  V. 

Letter  from  General  Buonaparte — The  Author  embarks  at 
Leghorn  and  arrives  at  Bastia,  where  he  finds  Salicetti — 
He  is  instructed  to  adopt  a  system  of  conciliation,  and  to 
endeavour  to  reconcile  party  divisions — He  publishes  a 
proclamation  accordingly — Political  situation  of  Corsica 


viii  CONTENTS. 


d  T     •  •     •  PAGE 

— borne  seditious  risings  are  repressed  and  tranquillity 
re-established — Administration  and  laws  organised,  first 
in  the  department  of  Golo,  and  next  in  that  of  Liamone 
—Journey  from  Bastia  to  Ajaccio  by  Corte  and  the 
Col  de  Guizzavano,  and  from  Ajaccio  to  Bonifacio  by 
Gartena  ..  ..  .,  259 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Author  leaves  Corsica  with  Joseph  Buonaparte,  goes 
to   Florence,  and    from  thence    to    Milan — He    visits 
General  Buonaparte,  then  residing  with  his  family  at 
Montebello,  after  a  brilliant  campaign  terminated  by 
the  treaty  of  Tolentino — The   peace    preliminaries  of 
Leoben  and  the  transformation   of  the   Governments  of 
Venice   and   Genoa — Lukewarm  Republicanism  of  the 
General — A  remarkable  conversation  in  which  Buona- 
parte  reveals    his    future    plans — The  Author  goes  to 
Turin — Political  situation  of  Piedmont  and  its  Govern- 
ment— Embarrassment  caused  to   the   Author   by   the 
secret  agents  maintained  in  Piedmont  by  the  Directory 
with  revolutionary  objects — The  Sardinian  Government, 
supported  by  Buonaparte,  displays  excessive  severity  in 

putting  down  the  partial  insurrections  in  Piedmont 

The  Author  goes  to  Milan  to  have  an  interview  with 
Buonaparte— Situation  of  the  different  parties  in  the 
Directory  and  the  Councils  in  Tan's  before  the  Coup 
d'Etat  of  the  18th  Fructidor — Buonaparte  decides  on 
supporting  the  Revolutionary  party — The  Author  ac- 
companies General  and  Madame  Buonaparte  in  an 
expedition  to  Lake  Maggiore-  Ee  returns  to  Turin  after 
having  agreed  with  the  General  upon  the  course  he  is  to 
tak"  ilicrc  -The  isth  Fructidor  lis  consequences  as 
regarded  the  position  of  the  Sardinian  Government, 
which,  as  a  result  of  the  treaty  of  Campo-Formio,  found 
IfdeDiivedof  Buonaparte's  supporl     The  Directory 


CONTENTS.  ix 


TAGK 


separates  the  General  from  the  Army  of  Italy  by  giving 
him  a  command  in  the  interior — Buonaparte,  in  going 
to  Rastadt,  passes  through  Turin  —  His  conversation 
with  the  Author — The  position  of  the  Sardinian  Govern- 
ment becomes  more  and  more  precarious  ..  ..      180 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Author  is  recalled  from  the  Embassy  at  Turin,  and  is 
succeeded  by  Ginguene — Joseph  Buonaparte,  having  left 
Rome  after  the  assassination  of  General  Duphot,  stays 
with  the  Author  at  Turin,  on  his  way  to  Paris — Berthier 
marches  on  Rome,  overthrows  the  Pope's  Government 
and  proclaims  the  Roman  Republic — Monge  and  Dannou, 
being  sent  by  the  Directory  to  organise  the  new  Republic, 
pass  through  Turin — The  hostile  dispositions  of  the 
Directory  towards  the  King  of  Sardinia  are  more  and 
more  openly  displayed  —  Ginguene,  accompanied  by 
Garat,  arrives  at  Turin  on  his  way  to  Naples  as  ambassa- 
dor there — The  Author  presents  his  letters  of  recall  to 
the  King  of  Sardinia,  and  takes  advantage  of  his  leisure 
to  make  an  excursion  in  the  Alps — On  returning,  he 
leaves  for  Paris — Sketch  of  the  state  of  Italy  at  the  be- 
ginning of  1798,  and  of  the  events  that  took  place  after 
the  departure  of  the  Author  . .  . .  ..231 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Author  arrives  in  Paris — He  finds  certain  changes  in 
the  manners  and  habits  of  Parisian  society — He  is 
received  coldly  by  the  Members  of  the  Directory,  and  by 
the  persons  who  frequent  their  salons — He  sees  Bona- 
parte— The  General's  motives  for  undertaking  the  expe- 
dition to  Egypt — Popular  rising  at  Vienna,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  French  Legation  leaves  that  city — 
The  Directory,  fearing  that  war  with  Austria  will  break 


xii  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

PAGE 

A  Treaty  of  Peace  with  the  United  States  is  signed — 
Incident  connected  with  the  date  of  that  Treaty — The 
active  part  taken  by  the  First  Consul  in  the  deliberations 
of  the  Council  of  State — The  proposed  law  on  the  forma- 
tion of  lists  of  Eligibles  is  abandoned — The  Republican 
conspiracy  of  Ceracchi  and  its  consequences — Reform 
of  the  laws  on  Emigration — Letter  from  Louis  XVIII. 
to  the  First  Consul — Arrival  of  Count  von  Cobentzel  to 
negotiate  for  peace — Rudeness  of  the  First  Consul  to  that 
Minister,  who  leaves  Paris  on  his  way  to  Luneville — 
Dissensions  between  the  First  Consul  and  his  brother 
Lucien — Violent  dispute  between  the  latter  and  Fouche 
— Lucien  is  removed  from  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior 
and  appointed  Ambassador  to  Madrid — The  Author  is 
selected  for  a  second  Mission  to  Corsica — Opinions  ex- 
pressed by  the  First  Consul  during  the  debates  of  the 
Council  of  State  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..      371 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Moreau  gains  a  victory  at  Hohcnlinden  over  tho  Austrians 
— Celebration  of  that  victory  in  Paris — The  Author 
prepares  for  his  journey  to  Corsica,  but  his  departure  is 
deft  rred  in  consequence,  of  the  attempt  of  the  3rd  Kivose 
— Details  of  that  event — Its  immediate  result — Wrath 
of  the  First  Consul  with  the  Terrorists — Extra-legal 
measures  proposed  against  that  faction,  by  means  of 
unconstitutional  powers  conferred  on  the  Senate — Ex- 
traordinary sitting  of  tho  Council  of  State — Reports  by 
the  Police— Debate,  and  decrees  of  the  Consuls  now 
converted  into  a  SenatusConsultum — The  Police  prove 
Ili.it  the  authors  of  theattempt  of  the  3rd  Kivose  bolong 
to    the  Royalisi    part)',  ami  arrest    the   real    criminals — 


CONTENTS.  xiii 


PAGE 

Successful  issue  of  the  peace  negotiations  at  Luneville — 
The  Author  sets  out  on  his  journey,  having  received  his 
instructions  from  the  First  Consul — Disorganised  state 
of  the  south  of  France — Admiral  Ganteaume  and  his 
squadron — The  author  leaves  Toulon  in  the  war-sloop 
Hirondelle  and  lands  at  Calvi  ..  ..  ••      402 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

State  of  Corsica  at  the  period  of  the  Author's  arrival — His 
proposed  system  for  the  administration  of  the  country — 
Difficulties  thrown  in  his  way  by  the  partisans  of  the 
Bonaparte  family,  and  the  military  authorities — He  dis- 
misses General  Muller,  Commandant  of  the  Division, 
from  the  island — Improvements  introduced  into  the 
country — An  account  of  the  Author's  excursion  to 
Monte-Eotondo — Curious  fete  given  in  his  honour  at 
Cervione — The  organic  laws  of  the  Concordat  con- 
cluded with  the  Pope — The  Life-Consulship — Little 
interest  shown  by  the  Corsicans  in  voting  for  it — 
Numerous  adverse  votes  among  the  troops — Journey  to 
Monte  d'Oro — Information  concerning  the  Bonaparte 
family  and  their  origin — The  Author  is  recalled,  and 
Corsica  is  again  placed  under  the  rule  of  the  Constitu- 
tion— Sketch  of  the  state  of  the  island  and  the  customs 
of  the  inhabitants  ..  ..  ..  ..      444 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Author  returns  to  Paris — His  reception  by  the  First 
Consul — Monarchical  customs  and  strict  etiquette  with 
which  the  First  Consul  surrounded  himself — Joseph 
Bonaparte  imparts  the  secret  designs  and  great  projects 
of  the  First  Consul  to  the  Author — Lord  Whit  worth, 
the  English  Ambassador   in  Paris— General  Moreau  is 


xiv  CONTENTS. 


PAG  E 


feted  at  the  Ministry  of  War — Government-mourning 
on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  General  Leclerc — New 
coinage  with  the  effigy  of  the  First  Consul — Lavish  en- 
dowment of  the  Senate — The  political  relations  between 
France  and  England  become  strained — Irritation  of  the 
First  Consul  with  the  English  Press — Conversation  be- 
tween Bonaparte  and  Lord  \\  hitworth — Colonel  Sebas- 
tiani's  Report,  published  in  the  Moniteur — The  King's 
speech  to  Parliament  is  hostile  to  France — Effect 
produced  by  it  in  Paris — Progress  of  the  crisis  and  of 
the  negotiations,  official  and  secret,  prior  to  the  defini- 
tive rupture  between  France  and  England — Simulta- 
neous departure  of  Lord  Whit  worth  from  Paris  and  of 
General  Andreossy  from  London — Appendix :  Lord 
Whitworth's  Despatch  of  February  21,  1803,  to  Lord 
Hawkesbury         ..  ..  ..  ..  ..487 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Commencement  of  hostilities — Severe  treatment  of  the 
English  in  France — The  First  Consul's  anger  with 
England  is  shared  by  the  great  Bodies  of  the  State — 
Disloyal  conduct  of  the  English  Government  towards 
France — French  troops  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Naples 
and  occupy  Hanover — A  strict  etiquette  is  established 
by  the  First  Consul — A  Theatrical  representation  at  the 
Palace  of  Saint-Cloud  is  followed  by  the  dolivery  of  an 
Ode  composed  by  M.  do  Fontanes — Adoption  of  the  first 
chapters  of  the  Civil  Code — Remarkable  share  taken  by 
the  First  Consul  in  the  debates  on  this  work — His 
journey  to  Belgium — Servility  shown  towards  him  by 
tin-  authorities,  Civil,  Military,  and  Clerical — Disgust 
feU  by  the  Parisians  at  such  excessive  flattery — The 
First  Consul's  onward  progress  towards  supreme  power 
— lie  causes  propositions  tube  made  to  Louis  XVIIL, 
who  declines  his  offers     Dissensions  between  Napoleon 


CONTENTS.  xv 


PAG  E 


and  liis  brothers — Disagreement  between  France  and 
Russia — First  preparations  for  an  invasion  of  England 
— M.  de  Fontanes,  President  of  the  Legislative  Body — 
Re-imposition  of  taxes  on  food,  under  the  name  of  droits- 
reunis     ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..      552 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Reconciliation  between  Napoleon  and  Joseph  Bonaparte — 
Real,  Councillor  of  State,  is  entrusted  with  the 
Superintendence  of  Police — Establishment  of  General 
Commissioners  of  Police  in  the  principal  towns  of 
France — Debate  on  this  subject  in  the  Council  of  State 
— Plot  against  the  First  Consul's  life  by  Georges, 
Cadoudal,  and  Pichegru  —  Complicity  of  Moreau — 
Details  of  the  examination  of  the  accused — The  Chief 
Judge's  report  on  the  facts  of  the  case  is  communicated 
to  the  Chief  Bodies,  of  the  State — Their  replies — 
Examination  of  Moreau's  papers  by  Regnault  de  Saint 
Jean-d'Angely  and  the  Author— State  of  the  contribu- 
tions levied  by  Moreau  in  Germany — Plan  and  intentions 
of  the  principal  conspirators — Royalist  character  of  the 
plot — Pichegru  and  Cadoudal  are  arrested — The  dis- 
coveries made  by  the  Police  respecting  this  conspiracy 
compromise  indirectly  a  great  number  of  persons — Cares 
and  troubles  of  the  First  Consul — The  Due  d'Enghien 
is  seized  at  the  Chateau  d'Ettenheim  in  Baden  by  a 
detachment  of  French  troops— The  Prince  is  brought 
before  a  military  commission  at  Vincennes,  is  condemned 
to  death,  and  shot — Consternation  in  Paris — Bonaparte's 
speech  to  the  Council  of  State  concerning  this  event — 
Ball  given  by  Talleyrand  three  clays  after  the  death  of 
the  Due  d'Enghien  ..  ..  ..  ..      587 


I    J 


... 


MEMOIRS   OF 

COUNT    MIOT    DE    MELITO, 


,  CHAPTER  I. 

The  Aii tli or  enters  upon  his  career  —  The  training-camp  at 
Saint-Omer — Comto  de  Guibert — The  effect  produced  upon 
the  troops  by  an  ill-timed  attempt  to  introduce  the  Prussian 
system  of  military  organisation — The  camp  is  abruptly 
broken  up — The  changed  aspect  of  the  Court  of  Versailles 
at  the  close  of  the  year  1783 — The  various  parties  at  the 
Court — The  deputies  of  the  Tiers  Etat  are  ill-received — 
Opening  of  the  States-General  —  Establishment  of  the 
National  Guard — The  Court  forms  projects  hostile  to  the 
National  Assembly — The  banquet  of  the  Body  Guard — 
Intention  of  the  Court  to  leave  Versailles — Events  of  the 
5th  and  6th  of  October — The  King  and  the  Royal  Family 
are  taken  to  Paris. 

I  was  born  at  Versailles  in  17G2,  and  my  parents 
destined  me  from  an  early  age  to  be  employed 
in  the  military  administration.  With  the  exception 
of  a  few  excursions,  for  purposes  of  instruction,  to 
Havre,  Metz,  Holland,  and  the  Low  Countries,  I 
passed  my  first  years  of  youthful  manhood  in  the 
War  Office,  in  which  my  father  was  one  of  the  chief 

VOL.    T  B 


\      t        <     I 


,     > 


'      '',•■'' 

....  ■     ■      ,   ,       .     ,  , 

•,•■•.'.  .    • . 

•  .    •      •  ,     .      .  '       ■    .   , 


2  MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

clerks.     In    1788  I  was  appointed  "Commissary  of 
War,"   and   sent   to   one   of  the    military  divisions 
which  had  recently  been  established.     This,  which 
used  to  be  called  "■  the  model  division,"  was  com- 
manded by  Lieutenant-General  the  Due  de  Guines. 
The    celebrated  Comte  de  Guibert,  the  Marquis  de 
Lambert,   both    members   of  the   Council    of  War 
formed  under  the  Ministry  of  M.  de  Brienne,  and 
M.    Blanchard,   one    of    the  most    eminent   of  the 
"  organising1    commissaries,"    were    included    in   it. 
The  general  officers  of  the  "  model  division  ':  were 
the   originators    of  a   completely   novel    system   of 
military  administration,    which,  however,  found  no 
favour  with  the  troops.     Their  plan  was    to    train 
the    French   army    in   the    Prussian    discipline   and 
tactics,  and   the  national  pride  repelled  those  inno- 
vations,   which    were    undoubtedly   dangerous   at  a 
moment  when  the  public  mind  was  seriously  dis- 
turbed  by    other   proceedings   on    the  part    of  the 
Brienne  Ministry.     The  effects  of  the  ferment  pro- 
duced by   these  combined  causes  were  destined  to 
manifest  themselves  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  year. 
Meanwhile,  two  training-camps  were  established; 
one  at  Saint-Omer,  under  the  command  of  the  Prince 
de  Condi',  the  other  at  Metz,  under  thai   of  Marshal 
de   Broglie.     I  was  employed  at  the  former,  which 
included  the  troops  of  the  division  in  which  1  served. 
I  arrived   in   September    L788   at   the  camp,  which 


OPPOSITION  TO  INNOVATIONS. 


was  situated  on  a  wide  heath,  at  a  little  distance 
from  the  town.  About  30,000  men  were  assem- 
bled there ;  among  that  number  were  included 
the  Swiss  regiments  of  Salis-Sansade  and  Diesbach. 
They  had  already  made  great  progress  in  the  study 
of  the  new  manoeuvres  ;  and  these  foreigners,  who 
adapted  themselves  to  the  novel  regime  more  readily 
than  Frenchmen  could,  were  much  admired  and 
highly  favoured  by  the  admirers  of  the  Prussian 
discipline  who  composed  the  staff.  Being  perpetu- 
ally quoted  as  an  example  to  all  the  other  corps, 
these  regiments  excited  jealousy  and  aversion  rather 
than  emulation,  and  it  may  safely  be  affirmed 
that  the  first  seeds  of  the  insubordination  after- 
wards exhibited  by  the  French  army  were  sown 
by  attempts  which  were  both  imprudent  and  op- 
posed to  the  national  character. 

The  discontent  excited  by  these  innovations  found 
expression  in  the  camp  in  the  usual  way,  by  means 
of  jests  and  songs  directed  against  the  "jobbers" 
(faiseurs),  as  they  were  called,  and  especially 
against  M.  de  G-uibert,  who,  being  much  superior 
in  talent  and  administrative  ability  to  his  colleagues 
in  the  Council  of  War,  and  therefore  supposed  to  be 
the  most  influential  member  of  it,  was  a  butt  for 
every  epigram.  The  malcontents  went  farther  than 
epigrams ;  conspiracies  to  insult  the  Count  publicly 
were  formed    among   the   young  officers;    the    ma- 

b  2 


4  MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

noeuvres  directed  by  him  were  purposely  ill-executed, 
and  made  to  fail ;  his  title,  and  even  his  claim  to  the 
status  of  a  gentleman  were  disputed.  In  short,  no 
means  of  casting  ridicule  upon  him  was  left  untried, 
and  the  unworthy  manner  in  which  he  was  treated 
at  the  assembly  of  the  nobles  of  his  province  for 
the  election  to  the  States-General  was  due  to  the 
jealousy  inspired  by  his  remarkable  ability,  and  the 
decided  repugnance  with  which  the  changes  he  had 
endeavoured  to  introduce  were  regarded. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  in  spite  of  the  constant 
occupations  and  the  perpetual  movement  of  the 
camps,  mens  minds  were  not  uninfluenced  by  what 
was  happening  just  then  at  Versailles.  The  enter- 
prises of  the  Brienne  Ministry  were  the  theme  of 
sreneral  conversation  ;  the  resistance  of  the  Parlia- 
merits  was  highly  applauded;  the  conduct  of  the 
Court  was  mercilessly  condemned,  while  its  scandals 
were  not  only  exposed  but  exaggerated.  Count 
Charles  de  Lameth,  Colonel  of  Cuirassiers,  was  fore- 
most among  the  malcontents,  and  had  already  made1 
a  public  profession  of  the  opinions  which  afterwards 
brought  him  into  such  notoriety.  Grave  discussions 
on  llie  rights  of  peoples,  and  the  inevitable  lic- 
it y  of  a  great  change,  were  thus  mingled  with 
tin'  sarcasms  and  epigrams  which  were  ceaselessly 
showered  upon  the  military  innovators.  Certain 
English  officers  who  had  crossed  the  Channel  for  the 


THREATENING  SYMPTOMS. 


purpose  of  witnessing  the  manoeuvres  at  the  camps, 
were,  on  the  contrary,  objects  of  openly  expressed  ad- 
miration and  esteem.  "  There,"  it  was  said,  "  are  free 
men  ;  there  are  the  models  whom  we  ought  to  imitate, 
and  not  the  machine-soldiers  of  a  despot-king  !  " 

Thus,  while  the  throne,  around  which  clouds 
were  gathering  heavily,  was  beginning  to  totter,  its 
chief  prop,  the  army — which  ought  to  have  been 
treated  with  the  utmost  consideration — was  wounded 
in  its  tastes,  feelings,  and  habits;  and,  revolting 
against  a  system  offensive  to  it,  against  an  appren- 
ticeship for  which  the  French  soldier  is  unfit,  did 
not  hesitate  to  discuss  questions  of  high  policy,  and 
to  take  an  active  part  in  them. 

This  disposition  of  men's  minds  could  not  possibly 
escape  the  notice  of  the  Prince  who  was  in  command 
of  us.  The  camp  was  broken  up,  and  the  troops 
sent  back  into  garrison  ;  but  they  took  thither  with 
them  ideas  and  opinions  which  had  developed 
themselves  amidst  the  great  gathering  of  which 
they  had  formed  a  part.  According  to  observa- 
tions made  at  the  time,  the  state  of  affairs  at  the 
camp  of  Metz  was  almost  identical  with  that  at 
Saint-Omer.  Only  a  deplorable  degree  of  blindness, 
and  that  thirst  for  renown  which  beset  men  impatient 
to  secure  the  triumph  of  their  own  hazardous  notions, 
could  account  for  such  an  act  as  the  massing  together 
of  troops,  for  the  sole   purpose  of  worrying  them, 


6  MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

under  such  circumstances.  The  very  moment  at 
which  they  were  shaking  their  chains  was  selected 
for  imposing  fresh  fetters  upon  the  soldiers,  for 
reducing  them  to  the  condition  of  automatons. 
Never  was  a  more  foolish  deed  perpetrated,  or  one 
that  was  followed  by  results  more  fatal  to  those 
who  were  g-uilty  of  it. 

I  returned  to  Versailles  in  October  1788.  During 
my  absence,  which  had  only  extended  over  a  feAV 
weeks,  the  aspect  of  the  Court  had  undergone  a  great 
change.  The  respectful  silence  of  the  courtiers  and 
the  attendants,  the  strict  forms  of  etiquette  formerly 
so  scrupulously  observed,  had  given  place  to  a  freedom 
of  speech  and  a  method  of  expression  to  which  the 
ears  of  our  princes  were  unaccustomed.  A  drawing 
together  of  the  different  classes  of  society  had  become 
perceptible,  the  interior  of  the  Palace  was  more  easy 
of  access,  in  short,  that  sort  of  familiarity  which 
is  established  between  men  by  services  requested 
and  promised  was  making  itself  felt.  The  two 
Assemblies  of  the  Notables,  the  failure  of  the  plans 
of  Cardinal  do  Lomei lie's  Ministry,  the  positive 
promise  of  the  Convocation  of  the  States-General, 
the  first  stirrings  of  sedition  which  had  manifested 
themselves  in  Paris,  the  return  of  M.  Necker,  and 
the  publications  of  the  day,  had  produced  this  great 
change.  External  customs  still  existed  indeed,  but 
they   were  frequently   violated  with   impunity.     In 


VERSAILLES  AT  THE  CRISIS. 


short,  the  Court,  such  as  Louis  XIV.  had  made  it, 
existed  no  longer  :  it  has  not  re-formed  itself  since, 
and  probably  it  never  will  re-form  itself. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  recapitulate  the  events 
which  took  place  between  the  Convocation  of  the 
States-General   and  their  meeting.      I  was  too  far 
from  the  councils  in  which   that  momentous   mea- 
sure was   so  lightly  discussed  and  so  imprudently 
adopted,  to  be  able  to  throw  any  light  upon  such 
a  subject.     Besides,  several  writers  have  handled  it 
more  ably  than  I  could  do ;    I   should  be  obliged 
either  to  copy  them,  or  to  extract  fragments  from 
the  pamphlets    of    the    time,  were   I   to  write   the 
history  of  that  epoch  after  my  fashion.      My  object 
is  not  to  follow  in  the  track  of  other  writers,  but 
only  to  relate  what  I  have  seen,  and  how  I  have  seen 
it.     I  shall  therefore  confine  myself  to  detailing  a 
few  particulars  of  what  happened  at  Versailles  from 
the  beginning  of  1780,  until  the  5th  of  October  of 
the   same   year,    that   famous   and    disastrous    day 
which  forced  Louis  XVI.  to  take  up  his  abode  at 
the  Tuileries,  and  to  quit  the  sumptuous  palace  of 
Versailles,  never  again  to  behold  it. 

Prior  to  those  times  of  disturbance  and  revolution, 
when  the  Court  was  the  whole  State,  three  principal 
personages   divided    it  among   them,   and  each  ex- 
ercised a  more  or  less  decisive  influence  ;  the  Queen, 
Monsieur  (afterwards  Louis  XVIII. ),  and  the  Comte 


8  MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

d'Artois  (afterwards  Charles  X.) ;  but  the  Queen's 
party  had  always  been  the  strongest.  The  Queen's 
domination  was  chiefly  exercised  through  her  in- 
fluence over  the  mind  of  her  husband,  a  man  of  pure 
life  and  good  intentions,  but  whose  qualities  were 
injured  by  weakness  of  character  and  temperament 
which  rendered  him  incapable  of  forming  and  ad- 
hering to  any  resolution;  and  this  although  he  was 
capable  of  profound  dissimulation,  the  fruit  of  the 
evil  education  which  was  given  to  the  princes  of 
the  House  of  Bourbon,  and  which  was  partially  the 
cause  of  their  misfortunes. 

The  three  powers  were  seldom  agreed.  The 
Comte  d'Artois,  who  put  no  restraint  upon  his 
passions,  indulged  to  excess  in  gambling  and  pro- 
fligacy. While  he  was  the  intimate  companion  of 
the  young  men  of  the  Court,  who  were  led  by  his 
example,  lie  was  at  the  same  time  duped  and  robbed 
by  old  debauchees,  who  took  advantage  of  his  inex- 
perience. For  the  rest,  lie  meddled  but  little  with 
the  administration  of  affairs  or  the  selection  of 
Ministers,  requiring  nothing  of  the  latter  except 
money  wherewith  to  pay  his  debts,  which  amounted 
to  .hi  enormous  sum  at  the  epoch  of  the  first 
Assembly  of  the  Notables.  He  did  not  begin  to  take 
part  io  public  affairs  until  the  beginning  of  the  year 
L787,  when,  by  declaring  himself  against  any  conces- 
.  ion  I"  the  ideas  ol  the  times,  and  by  supporting  M.  de 


TTIE   TI1REE  PARTIES  AT  COURT.  9 

Calonne,  he  exhibited  opinions  and  took  a  line  entirely 
contrary  to  those  adopted  or  followed  by  his  brother. 
Monsieur  was  a  clever  man,  but  he  was  held  to  be 
pedantic.  He  was  disliked  in  the  Queen's  circle, 
where  he  was  nicknamed  "  Hortensius."  Being 
repulsed  by  that  clique,  which,  according  to  him, 
did  not  do  justice  to  his  merit,  he  made  one  for 
himself,  more  intimate  and  less  restrained,  formed 
relations,  and  had  love  affairs  in  which  the  intel- 
lectual rather  than  the  animal  side  of  his  character 
was,  it  was  said,  engaged.  The  resentment  which 
he  cherished  against  the  Queen,  and  the  natural  bent 
of  his  mind,  led  to  his  appearing  in  the  Assembly  of 
the  Notables  as  the  chief  of  the  Liberal  party,  and  to 
his  being  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  sect  of  the 
philosophers.  Henceforth  he  stood  high  in  the 
opinion  of  the  public,  and  if  he  had  had  sufficient 
courage  and  real  attachment  to  the  new  ideas  to  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  movement  which  was  then 
beginning,  he  would  probably  have  been  able  to 
prevent  some  of  its  excesses.  But  it  seems  that  he 
aimed  rather  at  rendering  himself  formidable  to  the 
Queen,  who  had  scorned  him,  and  turned  him  into 
ridicule,  than  at  achieving  a  more  serious  sort  of 
distinction,  and  when  he  had  gratified  his  private 
revenge,  he  withdrew  from  the  stage  on  which  he 
had  made  a  brief  appearance,  and  hid  himself  from 
all  observers. 


10        MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

The   Queen's    party,    composed   of    a   number   of 
amiable  and  clever  men  and  women,  but  who  had  no 
sound  importance  resulting  from  superior  ability  or 
the  eclat  of  great  services  rendered  to  the  country, 
held  exclusive  domination  at  Court,  disposed  of  all 
patronage,  and  succumbed,   so  to  speak,  under  the 
mere  weight  of  favour,  wealth,  and  honours.     But, 
just    in    proportion   as  the  circle  which  the  Queen 
had  formed  around  herself  was  calculated  to  secure 
to  her  all  the  enjoyments  of  intimate  friendship  in 
private  life,  and   the    satisfaction    of  making  those 
whom  she  loved  happy,  it  was  also  likely  to  become 
fatal  to  her  peace  so  soon  as  the  eye  of  the  public 
should  penetrate  it.     This  was  exactly  what   hap- 
pened   at   the  moment  when  the  imperative  needs 
of  the  social  condition  of  the  country  turned  men's 
minds  towards  projects  of  improvement,  the  demand 
for    which    became    increasingly  evident  with   each 
rent  in  the  veil  which  covered  so  much  prodigality. 
When    the    crisis   came,    the  Queen    found   no   one 
among  her  intimates  who  could  aid  or  sustain  her. 
Her  friends  had  no  credit  with  the  outside  world ; 
they   enjoyed  no    public    esteem,  they   were  objects 
either  of  hatred  or  of  envy  ;  and  their  own  safety 
being   seriously  menaced,   what  could   they   do   but 
escape   from  the  country  ? 

They  neither  could   nor   would   give  her  any  but 
lud    advice,   for    they  themselves   must    have   been 


THE  CONVOCATION  OF  THE  STATES.  11 

the  first  to  suffer  by  wise  counsels.  It  was  impos- 
sible for  tliem  to  snatch  her  away  from  the  brink  of 
the  precipice  to  which  they  had  led  her,  and  they 
soon  found  their  only  resource  in  flight. 

Such  was  the  aspect  of  the  Court  of  Versailles 
when  the  States-General  were  convoked.  Neither 
good  faith  nor  sincerity  had  dictated  this  act.  Far 
from  seeking  to  smooth  the  difficulties  as  to  the 
method  of  deliberation,  which  were  raised  by  the 
excited  state  of  public  feeling,  and  the  twofold  repre- 
sentation granted  to  the  Third  Estate,  those  difficulties 
were  increased  by  the  affected  silence  maintained  on 
so  material  a  point.  The  courtier's  last  hope  was 
that  the  obstacles  would  become  so  entirely  insur- 
mountable as  to  render  the  meeting  of  the  States 
impossible,  and  for  that  end  they  all  schemed.  As 
a  result  of  this  system,  the  Deputies  arriving  at 
Versailles — and  particularly  those  of  the  Third 
Estate — far  from  being  made  welcome  by  the 
Court,  were  offended  by  sarcasms  and  jests  from  the 
Queen's  circle  and  that  of  the  Comte  d'Artois.  The 
language,  the  manners,  even  the  names  of  these 
new-comers  were  turned  into  ridicule,  and  the  very 
men  who  were  destined  to  shine  soon  afterwards 
by  their  superior  talent  and  by  their  impressive 
speeches,  and  to  dictate  to  the  Throne  and  tins 
heedless  Court,  were  at  first  regarded  as  pro- 
vincials   whom    the    fine    ladies   and    gentlemen    of 


12        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


Paris  and  Versailles  might  mystify  with  impunity. 
An  obsolete  ceremonial,  forms  of  etiquette  that 
had  fallen  into  disuse  since  greater  freedom  had 
penetrated  into  the  atmosphere  of  the  Court,  were 
revived,  and  thus,  between  the  other  two  orders 
and  the  Deputies  of  the  Third  Estate,  a  line  of 
demarcation,  as  marked  as  it  was  humiliating,  was 
drawn. 

In  proportion,  however,  as  their  reception  by  the 
Court  was  insulting,  their  welcome  in  the  town  was 
warm  and  affectionate.  They  were  cordially  received 
into  the  homes  of  the  citizens,  where  many  of  them 
had  arranged  to  board,  and  there  they  freely  ex- 
pressed their  resentment  and  found  it  shared.  Thus, 
notwithstanding  the  injunctions  of  the  Court,  not- 
withstanding the  dependence  upon  it  of  nearly  the 
whole  population,  the  people  openly  declared  them- 
selves in  favour  of  the  new  opinions,  and  became  so 
strongly  attached  to  them  that  in  the  end  they  were 
absolutely  hostile  to  the  Court.  The  sequel  has  shown 
that  the  popular  tendencies  were  not  to  be  despised. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  agitation  that  the 
opening  of  the  States-General  took  place.  I  was 
present,  as  a  spectator,  at  the  ceremony  which 
preceded  it  on  the  previous  day.  In  the  long 
procession  winding  through  the  wide  streets  of 
Versailles,  the  public  remarked  with  dislike  those 
distinctions   of   rank   and  of  costume  which    divided 


PUBLIC  DISCONTENT.  13 

into  three  separate  classes  the  men  on  whom  our  fate 
was  about  to  depend,  and  who  ought  to  have  pos- 
sessed equal  rights.  It  was  mortifying  to  see  the 
gold-embroidered  cloaks  of  the  noble  Deputies,  the 
plumes  waving  on  their  caps,  the  episcopal  purple 
proudly  displayed  by  the  clergy,  while  a  humble 
cloak  of  black  woollen  'stuff  and  a  plain  round  cap, 
a  strange  costume  revived  from  the  feudal  ages, 
marked  the  Deputies  of  the  Third  Estate.  Never- 
theless, their  firm  demeanour,  their  steady  gait,  their 
expression  of  mingled  dissatisfaction  and  confidence, 
drew  all  eyes  upon  them,  and  they  were  received 
with  hearty  salutations  not  offered  to  the  other 
orders.  There  was  a  crowd  of  courtiers  round  the 
Princes,  but  they  passed  on  amid  silence.  The 
King's  countenance  expressed  neither  emotion  nor 
interest.  He  advanced,  as  usual,  without  dignity, 
and  seemed  to  be  merely  accomplishing  some  duty  of 
etiquette.  Monsieur,  who  walked  with  difficulty,  was 
serious  and  thoughtful ;  he  seemed  to  be  thoroughly 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  day's  proceed- 
ings. The  Comte  d'Artois,  casting  disdainful  glances 
right  and  left  on  the  crowd  lining  the  streets,  showed 
evident  signs  of  vexation  and  ill-humour.  The 
Queen,  with  anxious  brow  and  close-shut  lips,  made 
vain  endeavours  to  hide  her  uneasiness  and  to  im- 
part a  look  of  satisfaction  to  her  noble  and  majestic 
countenance;  but  the  weight  at  her  heart,  full  of 


14        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

anxiety  and  bitter  thoughts,  made  her  unable  to 
maintain  it.  At  length  the  States-General,  which 
had  opened  on  May  5th,  began  to  assemble  in 
earnest.  I  followed  their  debates  with  eagerness, 
and  shared  in  all  the  agitation  of  the  interval 
between  the  opening  of  the  States  and  their  trans- 
formation into  the  National  Assembly.  When  the 
re-establishment  of  the  National  Guard  was  decreed, 
I  hastened  to  enrol  myself  in  the  section  then  forming 
at  Versailles.  This  must  have  been  displeasing  to 
the  Court,  for  it  was  forbidden  to  any  one  belonging 
to  it  to  join  the  new  militia,  and  no  one  wearing 
the  uniform  might  present  himself.  And,  in  fact, 
I  also  incurred  the  blame  of  the  circle  in  which  I 
had  moved  since  my  entrance  into  society,  while  some 
few  persons  considered  that  my  action  did  honour 
to  my  courage  and  independence.  I  deserved,  how- 
ever, neither  praise  nor  blame  ;  for  in  this  I  had 
simply  followed  the  dictates  of  my  conviction.  I 
did  not  remain  long  in  the  National  Guard,  where 
I  fulfilled  the  duties  of  adjutant.  A  post  confided  to 
me  by  the  Comte  de  la  Tour  du  Pin,  the  then 
Minister  of  War — that  of  facilitating  the  arrival 
of  provisions  in  Paris — took  me,  in  the  capacity 
of  War  Commissioner,  to  Rouen  for  a  month, 
and  obliged  me  in  the  first  instance  to  suspend 
my  service  in  the  National  Guard.  After  this,  tin; 
events    that     took     place    shortly    after   my   return 


STIRRING   EVENTS.  15 

compelled  me  to  resign  it  altogether,  and  to  leave 
my  native  town. 

Before  my  departure  for  Normandy,  I  had  wit- 
nessed all  the  events  that  took  place  at  Versailles 
during  the  three  months  following  the  opening 
of  the  States-General.  I  had  been  present  at 
the  famous  Royal  sitting  of  June  23,  at  the 
oath  of  the  Tennis  Court ;  I  had  seen  the  foreign 
regiments  in  the  pay  of  France  enter  Versailles, 
summoned  thither  in  order  to  dissolve  the  States- 
General  ;  I  had  seen  them  marching  at  night 
through  streets  crowded  with  a  silent  and  startled 
multitude.  I  had  seen  the  Queen  and  her  circle 
with  the  Comte  d'Artois  go  to  the  Orangery,  where 
the  foreign  troops  were  quartered,  applaud  their 
games  and  dances,  share  in  them,  and  address  words 
of  encouragement  and  praise  to  the  officers  and  even 
to  the  private  soldiers.  The  headquarters  of  Marshal 
de  Broglie  were  at  that  time  established  in  one  of 
the  suites  of  rooms  on  the  ground-floor  of  the  Palace 
opening  on  the  South  Terrace.  I  had  seen  the 
aides-de-camp  and  the  officers  of  the  staff  come  in 
with  their  reports,  and  carry  away  from  the  very 
palace  of  the  King  orders  to  march  on  Paris  and 
punish  its  inhabitants.  Artillery  was  despatched 
from  Douai  and  Metz ;  in  a  word,  warlike  prepara- 
tions, the  preludes  to  sanguinary  engagements 
were  displayed   on  all  sides,  in  places  where,  ever 


16        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

since  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  nothing  had  been 
heard  but  the  sound  of  festivity,  and  the  pomp  of 
peace  and  royal  magnificence  had  reigned  undis- 
turbed. I  had  also  seen  how,  in  an  instant,  at  the 
first  news  of  the  capital  in  insurrection,  and  of  the 
taking  of  the  Bastille,  terror  had  succeeded  to  warlike 
impulse ;  how  the  brilliant  staff  and  the  troops 
brought  from  so  great  a  distance  had  vanished 
like  shadows,  and  the  silence  of  fear  had  fallen  on 
the  Palace  so  full  of  tumult  a  few  days  before.  All 
this  formed  a  striking  picture  of  the  fragility  of 
human  designs,  when  they  are  neither  matured  by 
reflection  nor  sustained  by  high-souled  courage. 

On  rallying  from  the  violent  shock  of  July  14, 
the  Court  party  adopted  a  more  tranquil  attitude, 
and  seemed  for  a  time  to  resign  themselves  to  their 
fate.  But  their  conduct  had  been  so  false  and  so 
contradictory,  that  no  approbation  was  accorded 
even  to  this  resignation;  and  as  they  had  lost  all 
external  influence,  as  suspicion  rested  on  even  their 
most  indifferent  actions,  as,  in  short,  no  one  had  the 
least  doubt  of  their  bad  faith,  they  had  nothing  to  be- 
st nw,  and  their  favour  was  a  burden  which  those  with 
whom  they  sought  to  ally  themselves  could  not  bear. 

Meanwhile  the  Court  had  time  to  breathe,  and 
once  more  look  to  listening  to  perfidious  coun- 
sels and  cherishing  chimerical  hopes.  The  Comte 
d'Artois     and    the     Polignacs     had    indeed    gone 


THE  DISSOLUTION  DISCUSSED.  17 


away,  but  their  influence  bad  not  departed  with 
them.  They  had  reached  a  foreign  country,  and 
thus  secured  their  personal  safety,  so  they  were 
more  than  ever  urgent  in  advising  violent  mea- 
sures, and  represented  that  the  help  of  foreign 
Powers  would  as  certainly  be  lent  in  carrying  such 
measures  into  execution. 

Then  once  more  arose  the  questions  of  flight  and 
of  the  dissolution  of  this  formidable  National  As- 
sembly. In  consequence  of  a  scheme  by  which  the 
Municipality  of  Versailles  was  induced  to  request 
the  help  of  some  troops  of  the  line  in  order  to  secure 
the  safety  of  the  town,  the  regiment  of  Flanders 
was  summoned  thither.  It  was  at  this  time,  to- 
wards the  end  of  August  1780,  that  I  came  back 
from  Rouen.  The  aspect  of  Versailles  was  quiet,  but 
gloomy.  The  National  Assembly  were  discussing 
the  most  important  questions  of  social  order  with 
equal  precipitation  and  improvidence,  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  almost  universal  applause.  Threat- 
ened— and  they  could  not  be  ignorant  of  the 
threat — by  the  Court,  they  threw  themselves  en- 
tirely on  the  people,  whose  passions  they  flattered 
and  whose  excesses  they  excused.  Thus  they  laid 
the  foundations  of  that  formidable  power  which  in 
a  short  time  was  not  only  to  rival  but  to  exceed  their 
own.  The  two  parties  were  drawn  up  opposite 
to    each   other,  although   hostilities  had  not  begun, 

vol.  i.  c 


18        MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

when  the  Court  thought  itself  strong  enough  to 
throw  aside  the  mask,  or  rather,  in  its  impatience, 
it  laid  that  mask  by  unwittingly,  without  having 
made  any  preparations  for  acting  an  openly 
inimical  part.  The  Court  party  were  skilful  in 
sowing  dissension  among  the  National  Guard  at 
Versailles,  they  had  succeeded  in  inducing  several 
who  had  joined  it  to  abandon  the  service.  They 
distributed  white  cockades  to  some  young  men,  who 
wore  them  in  the  Palace  apartments,  and  this  mark 
of  devotion  to  the  Royal  cause  was  rewarded  with 
grateful  smiles.  The  officers  of  the  Flanders 
regiment  were  loaded  with  favours ;  reciprocal  com- 
plimentary attentions  had  led  to  friendship  among 
that  regiment,  the  Body  Guards,  and  a  small  mi- 
nority of  the  National  Guard.  The  Body  Guards 
gave  a  grand  banquet,  to  which  were  invited  the 
officers  of  the  Flanders  regiment,  those  of  the 
National  Guard,  those  of  the  Household  troops 
who  were  then  stationed  at  Versailles,  and  also 
some  gentlemen  holding  high  positions  at  Court 
and  in  the  Government,  or  posts  in  the  munici- 
pality or  the  law.  Every  one  knows  that  this 
banquet  became  an  orgy,  in  which  the  National 
Cockade  was  trampled  under  foot,  and  that  the 
Court  party,  which  should  have  used  its  authority 
to  prevent  such  a  scandalous  scene  in  the  palace 
of   the    monarch,  with    inconceivable   folly  actually 


THE  BANQUET  IN  THE   THEATRE.  19 

went  to  the  theatre  where  the  banquet  was  held,  and 
endorsed  its  disgraceful  excesses  by  their  presence. 
Every  one  knows  that  the  King",  accompanied  by  the 
Queen  carrying  the  Dauphin  in  her  arms,  made  the 
tour  of  the  table ;  that  they  accepted  and  proposed 
toasts,  and  ended  by  applauding  a  sham  assault  made 
on  the  Royal  box,  in  which  were  the  King  and  the 
Royal  Family,  by  guests  excited  with  wine  and 
political  passion,  while  a  military  band  played  the 
air — "  0  Richard  !  6  mon  roi  ?  ': 

I  had  declined  an  invitation  to  the  banquet,  and 
during  this  strange  scene  was  walking  alone  in  the 
gardens  of  Versailles,  when  I  perceived  a  disorderly 
crowd  rushing  towards  the  windows  of  the  Queen's 
apartment.  I  drew  near,  and  saw  them  forming 
into  irregular  dances,  with  shouts  of  "  Vive  le  roi  ! ' 
"  Down  with  the  National  Assembly  ! ''  They  con- 
tinued to  indulge  in  noisy  and  senseless  demonstra- 
tions during  great  part  of  the  night.  I  began  then 
to  suspect  from  what  was  taking  place  outside  how 
matters  had  progressed  within,  and  I  felt  greatly 
grieved,  foreseeing  the  fatal  consequences  of  the 
extravagant  conduct  of  that  evening. 

Nor  were  those  consequences  long  delayed.  Many 
external  symptoms  made  it  evident  to  the  public  that 
the  Court  was  returning  to  its  former  projects  ;  in- 
tending either  to  dissolve  the  Assembly,  or  to  leave 
Versailles  and  take  up  its  abode  in  some  stronghold 

c  2 


20        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

on  the  frontier — the  city  of  Metz  being  named  in 
particular. 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  execution  of  either 
plan,  the  four  companies  of  Body  Guards,  of  whose 
opinions  and  devotion  there  could  be  no  doubt 
since  the  scene  of  the  banquet,  had  been  assembled 
at  Versailles. 

The  Court  flattered  itself  also  that  some  of  the 
officers  of  the  Flanders  regiment,  and  also  of  the 
National  Guard  belonging  to  the  town,  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  fete,  would  be  carried  away  by  the 
example  of  the  Body  Guards.  Thus  did  they  cherish 
illusions,  while  the  ever-growing  agitation  in  Paris, 
now  raised  to  the  highest  pitch  of  excitement  by 
the  account  of  the  extravagant  scenes  just  enacted  at 
Versailles,  ought  to  have  roused  the  Court  to  alarm, 
and  induced  it  either  to  give  up  such  ill-concerted 
designs,  or  to  hasten  to  put  them  in  execution. 

But  the  King  had  to  make  up  his  mind,  and  Louis 
XVI.  was  incapable  of  coming  to  a  decision.  He 
was  as  impassive  as  ever,  and  altered  none  of  his 
habits.  Every  day,  as  usual,  he  went  out  hunting. 
He  was  hunting  on  October  5,  and  it  was  in  the 
woods  of  Rambouillet  that  a  messenger  on  horse- 
back, despatched  at  1  p.m.,  brought  him  the  news 
of  the  movements  taking  place  in  Paris,  and  of 
the  inarch  of  a  mob  of  ruffians  on  Versailles. 

I  will  noi  attempt  to  relate  here  the  events  of  that 


THE  FIFTH  AND  SIXTH  OF  OCTOBER.  21 

day  and  the  following  (October  6) ;  I  shall  merely 
relate  without  comment  what  I  saw  and  what  I 
did  on  those  two  days. 

At  2  p.m.  on  October  5,  I  was  informed  by  one 
of  my  comrades,  an  officer  of  the  National  Guard, 
of  what  was  taking  place  in  Paris.  I  was  not  on 
duty,  but  I  thought  it  right  to  put  on  my  uniform 
and  hold  myself  in  readiness  for  a  summons.  At 
half-past  three  the  drums  beat  the  general  roll-call, 
and  I  crossed  the  Place  d'Armes,  on  my  way  to  the 
headquarters  of  the  National  Guard,  which  was  at 
the  barracks  of  the  French  Guards  on  the  right  of 
the  Place.  As  I  passed  before  the  outer  courtyard 
of  the  Palace — the  gates  were  closed — the  Comte 
de  la  Tour  du  Pin,  Minister  of  War,  recognised 
me  and  called  me  in.  The  Court  was  almost  filled 
by  the  Body  Guards,  on  horseback,  drawn  up  in 
order  of  battle.*  I  walked  up  and  down  for  some 
time  with  the  Minister,  who  told  me  that  a  terrible 
crisis  was  at  hand ;  that  they  were  expecting 
the  arrival  of  a  mob  of  men  and  women,  coming 
from  Paris  on  pretext  of  asking  for  bread,  but 
from  whom  the  utmost  violence  was  to  be  appre- 
hended;  that  no  precautious  had  been  taken;  that 
the  King  had  not  yet  returned  from  hunting, 
but  that  it  could  not  now  be  long  before  he  came 
back  ;   and  that  in  the  meantime,  as  a  preliminary 

*  The  French  Guards  had  left  Versailles  some  weeks  before. 


22        MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


measure,  the  Place  had  been  closed  and  the  Body 
Guards  ordered  to  mount.  He  remarked  that  I 
was  in  uniform,  and  asked  me  where  I  was  going, 
and  what  I  intended  to  do.  I  replied  that  the 
general  roll-call  had  been  beaten,  and  that  I  was  on 
my  way  to  headquarters.  He  approved,  and  begged 
me  not  to  leave  the  National  Guards  now  assembling, 
but  to  unite  my  efforts  with  those  of  the  other 
officers  to  induce  them  effectually  to  resist  the  attack 
with  which  the  Palace  was  threatened.  He  added 
that  his  son,  the  Marquis  de  Gouvernet,  who  was 
second  in  command  of  the  Versailles  National  Guard, 
of  which  the  Comte  d'Estaing  was  Colonel,  had  just 
mounted,  and  would  bring  us  orders. 

I  was  on  the  point  of  taking  leave  of  M.  de  la 
Tour  du  Pin,  when  he  begged  me  to  go  from  him 
to  the  Comte  de  Saint-Priest,  then  Minister  of  the 
King's  Household,*  in  order  to  learn  whether  he  had 
received  any  further  information  as  to  what  was 
occurring  in  Paris,  and  to  propose  that  they  should 
concert  together  such  measures  as  it  was  desirable 
to  take.  M.  de  Saint-Priest  received  me  rather 
ungraciously,  my  uniform  was  not  pleasing  to  him. 
He  seemed  to  be  in  a  very  bad  temper,  and  told 
me  there  was  nothing  to  be  done,  all  that  was 
happening    was    the   consequence    of  the    mistaken 

*  The  Minister   of  the   King's  Household   included    in    his 
department   Paris  and  (lie  interior  of  the  kingdom. 


M.   DE  SAINT-PRIEST.  23 

conduct  of  the  Court  and  the  weakness  of  the  Kinc  : 
moreover,  there  was,  so  far  as  he  knew,  only  a  mob 
of  drunken  women  and  poor  ragged  wretches  to 
deal  with — that  they  had  no  arms,  and  that  the 
least  movement  of  regular  troops  would  easily  put 
them  to  flight ;  but  that  action  would  be  neces- 
sary, and  above  all  no  fear  must  be  shown.  Finally, 
he  told  me  he  would  meet  the  Comte  de  la  Tour  du 
Pin  at  the  Council,  which  was  certain  to  be  called 
immediately  on  the  King's  return. 

I  carried  this  reply  to  M.  de  la  Tour  du  Pin,* 
and  was  not  a  little  astonished  to  find  on  his 
staircase  a  dozen  women  from  Paris.  The  Suisse 
had  allowed  them  to  come  in,  and  they  were  seated 
on  the  stairs.  They  seemed  exhausted  by  fatigue 
and  hunger,  and  had  been  supplied  with  food. 
They  told  me  they  had  started  in  advance  from 
Paris  in  order  to  ask  the  King  for  bread,  and  that 
they  were  followed  by  a  larger  number,  who  were 
coming  on  with  the  same  intention.  While  one  of 
them  was  telling  me  these  things,  the  others  were 
crying  out,  "  Vive  le  roi !  let  him  give  us  bread  !  " 
The  Suisse  told  them  to  be  silent,  and  they  obeyed. 
The  scene  was  at  once  piteous  and  absurd. 

After  I  had  repeated  to  the  Minister  what  M.  de 
Saint-Priest  had  said  to  me,  I  resumed  my  way  to 

*  The  four  Ministers,  Secretaries  of  State,  resided  in  the 
first  Court  of  the  Palace,  called  the  Ministers'  Court. 


24        MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

the  barracks ;  but  instead  of  going  by  the  Ministers' 
Courtyard,  I  crossed  what  is  called  the  Princes' 
Courtyard,  and  I  perceived  the  Duke  of  Orleans  at 
the  window  of  the  apartments  on  the  ground-floor 
on  the  right.  He  was  leaning  on  the  ledge  of  the 
window,  and  speaking,  with  some  gesticulation,  to  a 
person  standing  in  front  of  him.  He  was  in  full 
dress,  and  wore  on  his  coat  the  Order  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.     It  was  then  about  four  in  the  afternoon. 

T  went  on  to  the  terrace  of  the  Palace  facing 
south,  and  there  I  found  a  squadron  of  the  Body 
Guards  on  horseback.  Finally,  after  making  the 
round  of  the  Palace,  I  returned  to  the  Place  d'Armes 
and  reached  the  barracks  of  the  French  Guards. 

The  aspect  presented  at  that  moment  by  the  Place 
d'Armes  was  as  follows.  The  Flanders  regiment 
was  drawn  up  in  line  reaching  from  the  left  angle 
of  the  Palace  gate  to  the  Avenue  de  Paris.  Several 
persons,  among  whom  I  recognised  some  Deputies 
of  the  National  Assembly,  were  walking  in  front  of 
I  lie  troops  with  the  officers  of  the  regiment.  Part 
of  the  population  of  Versailles  had  rushed  in  to  the 
Place  and  filled  it,  but  all  was  quiet,  and  there  was 
no  perceptible  movement.  Opposite  the  Flanders 
regiment  was  the  National  Guard  of  Versailles  in 
front  of  the  barracks,  but  within  the  wooden  barrier 
which  separates  the  precincts  of  the  barracks  from 
the  Place  itself     This  sruard  was  in  small  numbers 


THE  NATIONAL   GUARD.  25 

and  in  very  bad  order.  Instead  of  finding-  it  com- 
plete, as  I  expected,  I  saw  that  the  small  number  of 
men  who  were  mustered  were  out  of  uniform,  poorly 
clothed,  and  badly  armed.  None  of  the  men  of 
mark  in  this  militia,  whether  by  fortune  or  position, 
showed  on  that  occasion  ;  and  those  who  at  reviews 
or  on  days  of  ceremony  appeared  in  brilliant  uni- 
form and  wearing  epaulettes,  now  kept  themselves 
shut  up  within  doors.  The  National  Guard  under 
arms  at  the  moment — their  number  did  not  exceed 
two  hundred — also  remarked  these  facts.  Their  ob- 
servations were  accompanied  by  insulting  criticisms 
and  abusive  language.  I  felt  that  no  reliance  could 
be  placed  on  men  thus  ill-disposed,  and  that  far 
from  finding  in  them  a  force  which  we  might  oppose 
to  the  dangers  with  which  we  were  threatened, 
they  would  lend  their  aid  to  disorder.  I  remained, 
nevertheless,  at  their  head,  with  a  few  superior 
officers  who  arrived  one  by  one. 

All,  however,  continued  quiet,  and  the  ill-humour 
of  our  men  was  evaporating  in  more  or  less 
abusive  talk  against  their  chiefs  and  the  Court, 
when,  although  the  daylight  was  beginning  to  fade 
(it  was  about  six  in  the  evening),  seven  or  eight  of 
the  King's  carriages  were  seen  leaving  the  great 
stables  situated  on  the  right  of  the  barracks,  and 
proceeding,  by  the  Rue  Satory,  to  the  gates  of  the 
Orangery  which  open  on  the  high  road  to  Chartres 


26        MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

and  Brittany.     At  this  sight  several  of  the  National 

Guards  exclaimed  that  the  King  certainly  intended 

to  go,  and  that  he  must  be  prevented.     The  troop 

wavered,  and,  heedless  of  the  remonstrances  of  their 

officers,  about  thirty  men  rushed  forward,  and  taking 

short  cuts  through  by-streets,  reached  the  gates  of 

the  Orangery  and  closed  them  before  the  arrival  of 

the  carriages,  which  they  forced  to  return  the  way 

they  came.     This  unexpected  incident  destroyed  all 

the  projects   that  had  been  formed  at  the  Palace.* 

The  King,  who  could  have  mounted  his  horse  and 

placed   himself   at   the    head    of  his    Body    Guard, 

was  disconcerted  by  a  mischance  which  it  would  have 

been  very  easy  to  foresee,  or  to  repair,  by  sending  a 

picket  of  guards    to  the  gate,  and    he  again   sank 

into  his  usual  state  of  indecision,  and  awaited  events. 

The  National  Guards  who  had  hastened  to  stop  the 

Royal  carriages,  returned  to  barracks  more  irritated 

and  angry  than  before,  and  I  felt  certain  from  their 

language  that  nothing  would  now  check  them  ;  those 

who  did    not    share  in   their  feelings  having  taken 

advantage   of  the   dusk   to   disappear  one  by   one. 

Thus   there  remained  but  fifty  or  sixty  men  under 

arms.     It  was  six  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

*  The  carriages  were  to  have  received  the  Court  at  the  foot 

of  the  Orangery  steps,  and  nothing  then  could  have  prevented 

the  flight  of  the  King.    The  road  was  free,  and  the  Body  Guards 

assembled    in    the    courtyard    and    on   the  terrace  would  have 

applied  a  sufficient  escort. 


FIBST  FIBE.  27 


At  about  the  same  hour,  the  gates  of  the  Palace 
were  thrown  open,  and  Body  Guards  from  the  court- 
yard as  well  as  those  from  the  terrace— their  presence 
being  no  longer  necessary,  since  the  King  had  given 
up  the  thought  of  departure — began  to  defile  past 
so   as   return    to   their    Hotel,   in    the    Avenue    des 
Sceaux.     These  troops,  in  order  to  reach  the  Avenue, 
had  to  pass  through  the  Place  d'Armes,  crossing  it 
in  front  of  the  French  Guards'  barracks,  then  occu- 
pied by  us.  On  perceiving  them,  part  of  the  National 
Guard  moved  forward  towards  the  wooden  barrier 
which,  as  I  have  said,  separated  the  precincts  of  the 
barracks  from  the  Place  ;  the  rest  remained  in  front 
of  the  building.     The  head  of  the  column  of  Body 
Guards  which  were  defiling  at  a  trot,  four  abreast, 
had  barely  passed  the  barrier,  when  I  saw  a  flash  of 
fire-arms  from  among  them.     At  the  same  moment, 
the    National  Guards,  without  waiting   for    orders, 
replied  by  an  irregular  volley,  levelling  their  guns 
at  the  Body  Guards.     The    latter   instantly  set  off 
at  a  gallop,  before  the   shooters,  terrified    at  what 
they  had  done,  had  thought  of  reloading  their  arms. 
A  gloomy  silence  succeeded  to    this   momentary 
tumult.     We    afterwards    approached    the    barrier, 
but   could    find    no    trace    either    of    the    discharge 
from  the  column  of  the  Body  Guards,  nor  of  the 
shot  fired  from  the  barracks.     Shortly  after,  M.  de 
Gouvernet    arrived    on    horseback ;    he  ordered    us 


28         MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

to  withdraw  all  the  Guard  except  that  part  which 
was  on  duty.  He  assured  us  that  the  King  had 
no  intention  of  leaving  Versailles :  that  everything 
was  now  tranquil ;  that  the  Body  Guards  and  the 
Flanders  regiment  had  returned  to  their  quarters  ; 
but  that  if  anything  extraordinary  should  happen, 
the  drums  were  to  beat  to  arms. 

As  I  was  not  on  duty,  I  withdrew,  and  repaired  to 
a  house  where  I  habitually  spent  my  evenings.  I 
found  the  company  much  excited  by  the  events  of 
the  day,  and  especially  by  the  shots  they  had  heard. 
Each  one  explained  them  according  to  his  own 
opinions  or  passions,  some  asserting  that  the  National 
Guard  had  fired  first,  and  others  that  one  of  the  Body 
Guard  had  fired  his  pistol  at  one  of  the  National 
Guards  who  was  near  the  barrier.  I  narrated  what 
I  had  seen,  and  as  nothing  absolutely  decisive  in 
favour  of  one  opinion  or  the  other  could  be  drawn 
from  my  account,  each  individual  maintained  his 
own,  and  even  to  the  present  day  the  question 
remains  unsettled. 

On  returning  home  at  eleven  in  the  evening,  I 
again  passed  by  the  barracks.  I  found  only  a  few 
men  there,  but  near  the  barrier  I  remarked  a  large 
fire.  I  approached,  and  saw,  gathered  round  tin's 
fire,  a  group  of  men  armed  with  pikes,  and 
women  of  hideous  aspect.  They  were  busied  in 
cutting    up    a  dead    horse,    and    roasting   the   ilesh. 


THE  LAST  DAY  AT   VERSAILLES.  29 


I  was  told  that  the  horse  had  been  found  on  the 
Place  ;  it  had  been  probably  killed  by  a  shot  from 
the  barracks  when  the  National  Guards  had  fired. 
I  could  learn  nothing  farther. 

I  had  scarcely  reached  my  house  when  I  heard  the 
drums  beating.  On  inquiry,  I  found  that  the  National 
Guard  of  Paris  was  approaching,  with  M.  de  la 
Fayette  at  its  head.  A  grenadier  in  one  of  the  Paris 
battalions,  who  was  a  friend  of  my  father,  came  to 
see  us,  and  quieted  our  apprehensions  as  to  the  aim 
of  this  disturbance.  He  said  that  the  two  churches 
of  Versailles  had  been  assigned  as  quarters  to  the 
different  battalions,  but  that  he  had  preferred  asking 
us  for  a  night's  lodging.  We  made  him  welcome, 
and  I  went  to  bed.     It  was  then  midnight. 

At  seven  in  the  morning,  October  6,  I  heard  the 
drums  beating.  I  arose  in  haste,  and  made  my 
way  towards  the  Palace  across  the  gardens.  In  the 
courtyards  I  saw  the  vanguards  of  the  battalions  of 
the  Parisian  National  Guard,  which  were  arriving 
in  good  form,  and  falling  successively  into  order. 
M.  de  la  Fayette  was  at  their  head.  While  these 
troops  were  advancing  and  occupying  different  posts, 
I  ascended  the  marble  staircase  and  entered  the 
interior  of  the  Palace,  all  the  intricacies  of  which  I 
knew  perfectly.  The  posts  generally  occupied  by  the 
Body  Guard  and  the  Hundred  Swiss  were  vacant ; 
the  guard-room  and  the  antechambers  leading  to  the 


30        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

Queen's  apartment  were  deserted  ;  there  were  stains 
of  blood  on  the  floor  and  on  the  stairs.  The  greatest 
disorder  prevailed ;  men  clothed  in  rags  and  armed 
with  pikes  were  hurrying  down  the  steps  which  I  had 
ascended;  the  doors  of  the  Queen's  apartment  lay 
open  ;  not  a  servant  was  to  be  seen,  either  man  or 
woman  ;  the  furniture,  including  even  the  Queen's 
bed,  was  knocked  about  or  moved  from  its  place. 
From  all  this  it  was  plain  that  the  rooms  had  been 
forcibly  entered,  that  the  Body  Guards,  no  more  nu- 
merous than  usual,  had  been  taken  by  surprise,  and 
that,  after  having  defended  the  entry,  they  had  been 
obliged  to  yield  to  force  and  retreat ;  and  also  that 
several  of  them  had  shed  their  blood  in  making-  a 
hopeless  resistance. 

The  King's  apartment,  on  the  contrary,  was  closed. 
I  returned  by  the  same  way  I  had  come,  and  then  I 
beheld  the  National  Guard  of  Paris,  in  the  court- 
yards, in  line  of  battle,  with  flags  flying  and  in 
perfect  order.  A  crowd  of  people,  and  numerous 
groups  of  men  and  women,  strangers  to  Versailles, 
were  pressing  behind  the  troops,  uttering  shouts  and 
howls,  and  brandishing  their  pikes,  on  some  of  which 
were  human  heads.  It  wras  a  horrible  and  revolting 
spectacle!  The  furious  mob  was,  however,  kept  in 
check  by  the  presence  of  the  National  Guard, 
and  ;i  portion  of  it,  even,  seeing  there  was  no- 
thing more   for   them   to  do,   began  to  return  along 


THE  LAST  DAY  AT   VERSAILLES.  31 

the  road  to  Paris,    whither  they  bore  their  bloody 
trophies. 

Lost  in  the  crowd,  and  dumb  with  horror,  I  was 

contemplating  this  fearful  scene,  when  another  of  a 

more  imposing  kind  presented  itself.     The  windows 

of  the  balcony  of  the  King's  apartment,  looking  on  to 

the  inner  courtyard,  called  the  Marble   Court,  were 

thrown  open.     The  King  appeared  on  the  balcony, 

accompanied  by  the  Queen,  by  his  children  and  by  the 

Princesses.*     Their  appearance  was  saluted  by  cries 

of  "  Yive  le  roi !  vive  la  famille  royale  ! ';     M.  de  la 

Fayette  and  M.  Necker  stood   near  the  King  and 

Queen,   and  behind  them  was   a   group    consisting 

principally  of  Body  Guards,  disarmed  and  bareheaded. 

The  King  seemed  to   be  begging  that  his  faithful 

servants  should  be  spared,  by  placing  them,  in  some 

sort,  under  the  protection  of  the   Parisian  National 

Guard,  and  M.  de  la  Fayette  was  endeavouring  to 

explain  the  meaning  of  the  King's  gestures.     I   was 

at  too  great  a  distance  to  hear  distinctly  the  words 

that  were  used,  but  the  National  Guard  replied  by 

cries  of  assent.     Then  the  Body  Guards,  throwing 

their  sashes  and   white  cockades  over  the  balcony, 

received   in    exchange    tricolor   cockades    and    caps 

belonging   to    grenadiers    of  the    National    Guard. 

They    fastened     in    the  cockades    and   put    on    the 

caps.     After  this  kind  of  treaty  of  peace,  confirmed 

*  Madame  Elisabeth  and  the  aunts  of  the  King. 


32        MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

by  loud  shouts,  I  heard  some  voices,  at  first  few  in 
number,  but  afterwards  becoming  more  and  more 
general,  and  proceeding  from  every  rank  in  the 
National  Guard,  demanding  that  the  King  should 
come  to  live  in  Paris.  At  first  these  cries  seemed  to 
receive  no  attention,  but  the  clamour  soon  became  so 
loud,  and  was  mingled  with  so  many  threats,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  evade  a  reply.  The  King  and 
Queen  were  in  consultation  with  M.  de  la  Fayette 
and  M.  Necker  on  the  balcony,  and  at  last,  after 
a  quarter  of  an  hour's  indecision,  the  latter  came 
forward — a  profound  silence  prevailed — and  I  dis- 
tinctly heard  the  Minister  announce  that  the  King 
consented  to  proceed  to  Paris,  and  to  take  up  his 
abode  there  for  the  future. 

M.  de  la  Fayette  confirmed  this  resolution  by  voice 
and  gesture.  A  transport  of  joy  impossible  to  depict 
or  to  express  instantly  pervaded  the  crowd,  salvos  of 
musketry  were  fired,  and  shouts  of  "  Yive  le  roi ! " 
resounded  on  every  side.  When  the  tumult  had 
somewhat  subsided,  the  King  retired  with  his 
family  into  the  private  apartments,  and  it  was 
announced  that  the  Court  would  leave  Versailles 
at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.     It  was  then  about 

0  A.M. 

The  National  Guard  of  Paris  piled  their  arms  in 
the  courtyards  ofthe  Palace,  and  dispersed  about  the 
town,  while  awaiting  the  hour  fixed  for  the  King's 


THE  KING'S  DEPARTURE.  33 

departure,  when  they  were  to  resume  them,  and 
escort  the  Royal  travellers.  The  greater  part  of  the 
crowd  of  men  armed  with  pikes  had  already  set  out 
for  Paris,  followed  by  some  of  the  women.  In  the 
meantime,  the  National  Guard  of  Versailles  was 
assembling  on  the  Place  d'Armes,  by  order  of  its 
commanding  officers,  and  I,  having  put  on  my  uni- 
form, hastened  to  join  the  ranks.  The  Guard  was  to 
line  the  way  when  the  King  passed,  and  as  nothing 
more  than  a  ceremonial  parade  was  in  question, 
there  was  a  numerous  muster,  and  all  was  in  good 
order. 

At  about  one  o'clock  the  cortege  began  to  move. 
A  strong  advance  guard  was  formed  of  several 
battalions  of  the  National  Guard  of  Paris.  Tipsy 
women  were  seated  on  the  gun-carriages,  singing 
and  waving  aloft  boughs  which  they  had  torn  from 
the  trees.  But  I  did  not  see  the  heads  carried  on 
pikes,  of  which  mention  has  been  made  in  certain 
narratives.  The  men  who  took  those  horrible  spoils 
of  a  night  of  crime  back  to  Paris  were  already  far 
away.  The  King's  carriages  came  next ;  they  were 
surrounded  by  several  of  the  Body  Guard  ;  some 
seated  on  the  box,  or  on  the  shafts  of  the  coaches, 
and  looking  much  more  as  though  they  had  sought  a 
refuge  there,  than  as  though  they  were  occupying  a 
post  of  defence.     A  great  many  of  them  still  wore 

VOL.    I.  D 


34         MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  M10T  DE  MELITO. 


the  grenadiers'  caps,  and  all  displayed  the  tricolored 
cockade. 

As  I  have  already  said,  we  lined  the  way,  and 
from  my  position  in  front  of  the  men  I  could 
easily  observe  everything.  The  King's  face  was 
quite  unchanged,  but  the  countenance  of  the  Queen 
betrayed  agonizing  grief,  notwithstanding  the 
strong  efforts  which  she  made  to  repress  the  out- 
ward signs  of  her  feelings.  Monsieur's  carriage 
followed  that  of  the  King,  and  the  others  were 
occupied  by  persons  of  the  household.  There  were 
ten  or  twelve  carriages  in  all.  M.  de  la  Fayette  was 
on  horseback,  now  at  the  side  of  the  King's  carriage, 
anon  riding  forward  to  give  orders.  Two  ranks  of 
National  Guards  marched  in  parallel  lines  with  the 
carriages;  the  remainder  of  that  numerous  body 
formed  the  rear-guard.  I  followed  this  strange 
procession  with  my  eyes  until  it  reached  the  turn 
into  the  Avenue  de  Paris,  where  at  length  it 
disappeared. 

During  the  rest  of  the  day  I  wandered  about  the 
deserted  gardens  and  palace,  and  through  the  streets 
of  the  town,  where  the  silence  was  broken  only  by 
the  wheels  of  the  carriages  in  which  the  Deputies 
and  Ministers,  all  eager  to  leave  Versailles,  were 
setting  out  for  Paris.  All  night  the  town  was 
patrolled.       This    was    an    unnecessary    precaution, 


A  LAST  TURN  OF  DUTY.  35 

perfect  quiet  reigned  everywhere.  I  was  at  the 
head  of  one  of  the  patrolling  parties,  and  this  was 
the  last  turn  of  duty  I  did  with  the  National  Guard 
of  Versailles.  Two  days  later  I  resigned,  and  set  out 
for  Paris,  whither  I  had  been  summoned  by  M.  de  le 
Tour  du  Pin,  who  was  still  Minister  of  War. 


i)   2 


36        MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


CHAPTER  IL 

The  10th  of  August,  1792 — The  Author  escapes  a  decree  of  accu- 
sation— M.  Lacuee  provisional  Chief  of  the  War  Department 
— Joseph  Servan,  Minister — The  Author  ceases  to  be  Chief  of 
Division  at  the  Ministry,  and  enters  the  Administration 
of  Military  Affairs  as  Comptroller-General  —  Servan  is 
succeeded  in  the  Ministry  by  Pache  and  Hassenfratz,  who 
disorganise  its  administration  —  Pache  is  dismissed,  and 
succeeded  by  Beurnonville — -The  Author  resumes  his  former 
post  at  the  Ministry — Bouchotte  succeeds  Beurnonville — 
The  Author  is  made  Secretary-General  in  the  Ministry  of 
Foreign  Affairs  under  Deforgues — Sketches  of  some  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Terror — Fall  of  Deforgues,  who  is  succeeded 
at  the  Foreign  Office  by  a  schoolmaster  named  Buchot — 
The  Author,  denounced  as  a  "  Moderate,"  is  placed  under 
a  decree  of  accusation,  together  with  MM.  Otto,  Colchen, 
and  Reinhart- — They  are  saved  by  the  9th  Thennidor — The 
Author  is  appointed  Commissioner  of  Foreign  Affairs — His 
communications  with  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety — 
Treaties  of  peace  with  Tuscany  and  Prussia. 

I  had  been  settled  in  Paris  since  October  1780, 
and  I  continued  in  the  service  of  the  Military 
Administration  which  I  had  entered  at  Versailles. 
I  occupied  at  first  the  post  of  "  Chief  of  the  Bureau," 
and  afterwards  thai  of  "Chief  of  Division,"  under 


A  NABBO  W  ESCAPE.  37 

the  different  Ministers  who  succeeded  each  other  at 
the  War  Department  up  to  August  10,  170  2. 

I  was  included  at  this  period  in  the  proscription 
which  fell  upon  a  great  number  of  Government 
employes,  and  I  was  to  have  been  arrested  and 
thrown  into  prison,  where  1  should  probably  have 
been  one  of  the  victims  of  the  massacres  of  the 
2nd  of  September.  But,  fortunately  as  it  turned 
out,  I  was  anxious  about  the  health  of  my  wife 
and  daughter,  then  at  Versailles,  and  on  the  very 
morning  of  the  10th  of  August  I  had  left  Paris 
by  the  Clichy  Gate,  and  had  made  my  way  to 
Versailles,  across  the  plain  of  Sablons,  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne,  St.  Cloud,  and  the  woods  above  the 
ancient  palace  of  our  Kings,  the  pathways  of  which 
were  perfectly  familiar  to  me.  During  my  progress, 
the  noise  of  cannon  and  musket-shot  in  Paris  caused 
me  terrible  anguish  of  mind  ;  but  I  only  hastened 
the  more  quickly  on  my  way,  and  reached  Versailles 
about  noon,  trembling  with  apprehension,  ignorant 
of  what  had  taken  place  in  Paris,  and  unable  to 
reply  to  any  of  the  questions  put  to  me.  In  the 
evening  the  details  of  that  terrible  day  became 
known.  I  concealed  myself  carefully  on  the 
morrow,  fearing  to  be  arrested  as  non-domiciled, 
and  on  the  succeeding  day  (August  12),  1  took 
my  place  in  one  of  the  little  carriages  that  for 
some    time    had    been  running    between    Versailles 


38        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

and  Paris.  We  passed  without  difficulty  through 
the  gates,  which  were  closed  against  all  who  wanted 
to  leave  the  city,  but  freely  open  to  all  in-comers. 
On  reaching  my  father's  house,  I  found  that  a 
warrant  for  my  arrest  had  been  issued,  and  that 
a  search  had  been  made  for  me,  in  order  that  it 
might  be  put  in  force.  I  also  heard  that  my  brother- 
in-law,  M.  Arcambal,  Commissioner-Director  of  War 
and  Secretary-General  of  the  Ministry,  and  my  uncle, 
M.  Vauchelle,  chief  Clerk  of  Artillery,  had  already 
been  arrested.  After  acquainting  me  with  this  sad 
news,  my  father  added  that  he  had  stated  that  he 
did  not  know  where  I  was,  but  that  I  might  be 
heard  of  at  the  residence  of  the  War  Minister. 

Thereupon  I  quickly  decided  on  my  course  of 
action,  which  was  to  proceed  to  the  War  Office. 
I  learnt  there  from  my  fellow-clerks  that  emissaries 
of  the  Commune  had  in  fact  come  on  the  previous 
day  to  arrest  me;  that,  not  finding  me,  they  had 
left  one  of  their  number  behind  to  seize  me  on  my 
return,  and  enforce  the  warrant  against  me,  but 
that  the  individual,  weary  of  waiting  to  no  purpose, 
had  departed,  and  had  not  since  reappeared.  The 
Legislative  Assembly  had  appointed  M.  Lacue'e,  one 
of  its  members,  to  administer  the  department  until 
the  arrival  of  the  new  Minister  of  War.  I  thought 
it  right  to  wail  upon  him,  and  found  him,  wear- 
ing a   tricolor  sash,  and  installed  in   the    Minister's 


M.  JULLIEN.  39 


cabinet.  I  told  him  that  I  presented  myself,  in 
order  that  he  might  not  suspect  me  of  trying  to 
escape  the  search  now  being  made  for  me.  He 
received  me  politely,  said  he  had  no  orders  to  take 
any  steps  against  me,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  he 
requested  me  to  return  to  my  work,  and  to  assist 
him  in  the  difficult  position  in  which  he  found 
himself.  He  complained  of  the  excesses  of  the 
Commune  in  Paris,  which  had  disorganised  every 
official  department  by  its  arbitrary  arrests ;  and 
in  fact  he  was  equally  indignant  at  the  acts  of 
that  seditious  authority  as  he  was  powerless  to  re- 
press them. 

I  therefore  resumed  my  usual  occupations,  ex- 
pecting every  instant  to  be  arrested  at  my  desk. 
But  I  was  not  arrested ;  either  it  was  believed  that 
the  warrant  had  already  been  executed,  or  I  was 
forgotten ;  at  all  events,  I  remained  at  libertv.  I 
even  had  the  very  great  happiness  of  saving  one 
of  our  friends,  M.  Jullien,  who  took  refuge  in 
my  house,  and  of  aiding  with  him  in  the  release  of 
my  uncle  and  my  brother-in-law,  whom  I  have 
mentioned  above,  and  who  were,  marvellous  to  re- 
late, set  at  liberty  a  few  days  before  the  2nd  of 
September. 

Meanwhile  the  Legislative  Assembly  had  ap- 
pointed Joseph  Servan  Minister  of  War.  He  was 
brother  to  the  celebrated  Advocate-General  of   the 


40        MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

same  name,  and  had  already  occupied  that  post,  to 
which  he  had  been  appointed  by  the  King.  He 
had  connected  himself  with  the  now  triumphant 
Girondist  party,  and  sent  in  his  resignation  some 
months  previously.  The  Assembly  had  solemnly 
declared  that  on  quitting  his  post  he  carried  with 
him  the  regrets  of  France.  During  his  first  tenure 
of  office  I  had  frequently  been  brought  into  contact 
with  him ;  he  was  acquainted  with  my  opinions  and 
knew  that  I  did  not  share  his.  In  fact,  although 
I  occupied  a  somewhat  obscure  position,  I  had 
not  been  permitted  to  conceal  my  opinions ;  and 
I  was  naturally  opposed  to  any  disguise  of  the 
kind.  I  was — and  he  knew  it — what  was  called  at 
that  time  a  Constitutional  Monarchist,  a  Moderate,  a 
u  feuillant."  I  belonged  to  the  club  so-called,  although 
my  dislike  of  assemblies  of  that  kind  generally  kept 
me  away  from  it.  All  these  circumstances  being 
known  to  M.  Servan,  he  could  not  feel  confidence  in 
me;  and  although  my  thorough  acquaintance  with 
the  details  of  the  Ministry  rendered  me  useful,  he  felt 
that  by  retaining  me  he  might  incur  censure,  and 
would  expose  himself  to  danger  without  being  able 
to  protect  me.  Nevertheless  he  received  me  with 
some  cordiality,  after  his  appointment  to  the  War 
Office  by  the  Assembly  ;  but  as  my  views  of  my 
position  there  were  the  same  as  his,  we  soon  agreed 
lo  separate.     He  accepted  my  resignation  of  I  he  post 


A  NEW  MINISTER.  41 


of  Chief  of  Division — I  sent   it  in  on  the  pretext 
of  ill-health — and  placed  me  as  Comptroller-General 
in  the  Administration  of  Military  Affairs,  a  position 
little  known  and  quite  obscure,  where  I  hoped  to  be 
out  of  the  reach  of  investigation.     But  it  was  fated 
otherwise.     The  National  Convention  had  just  met, 
and  the  Girondists  who  had   placed  Servan  at  the 
head  of   the    War    Office,    having   lost    by  degrees 
the  powerful  influence  they  had  exercised  over  the 
Legislative    Assembly,    Servan    was    attacked,    dis- 
missed,  and  replaced  (October  4,   1792)  by  Pache, 
a  creature  of  the  Communist  party.     On  the  arrival 
of  the  new  Minister,  the  whole  War- Administration 
was  upset.     Every  man  of  intelligence  or  experience 
was   dismissed,   and    Hassenfratz,  placed   by    Pache 
at  the  head  of  one  of  the  most  important  divisions 
of  the   department,  raised   confusion  to  its    highest 
pitch ;     he    persecuted     all     the    former    employes 
by  his   denunciations,  and   treated   them   with   the 
severity    inspired    by    instinctive    ill-will,    disguised 
under  the  hypocritical  mask  of  enthusiastic  republi- 
canism.    Nor  was    I    to   escape :    in   the  month  of 
December  there  was  some  thought  of  entrusting  me 
with  a  mission  connected  with  the  administration  to 
which  I  belonged  :  he  refused  me  my  passports  and 
the  necessary  orders,  expressing   surprise  that   my 
name  had  been  left  on  the  list  of  employes  in  his 
department.     This  expression  of  opinion  on  the  part 


42        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


of  a  man  who  was  at  that  time  all-powerful,  was 
equivalent  to  a  sentence  of  death,  and  doubtless  I 
should  have  perished  had  my  persecutor  had  time 
to  carry  his  evil  intentions  into  execution. 

At  this  critical  moment  of  my  fate  Pache  himself 
was  violently  attacked  by  Dumouriez.  The  latter 
had  just  entered  Belgium  after  his  brilliant  victory 
at  Jemappes,  and  could  not  carry  on  the  war  with 
a  Minister  who  was  disorganising  everything.  He 
had  great  influence  in  the  Convention  ;  prevailed 
over  the  Commune,  and  carried  the  dismissal  of 
Pache  early  in  February  1793.  Pache  was  succeeded 
by  Beurnonville,  who  had  served  with  distinction 
in  the  Belgian  campaign,  and  was  nicknamed  by 
Dumouriez  "the  French  Ajax." 

Beurnonville,  on  coming  into  office,  sent  for 
me  and  offered  to  restore  me  to  my  former  post. 
Since  the  time  when  Hassenfratz  had  declared  war 
against  me,  and  during  the  trial  of  Louis  XVI.,  I  had 
frequently  absented  myself  from  Paris,  to  avoid 
the  dangers  that  threatened  me,  and  also  the  sight 
of  the  terrible  tragedy  then  impending,  of  that 
sanguinary  execution  which  shortly  afterwards 
polluted  the  capital  of  France ;  but  I  had  not  re- 
linquished my  habitual  residence.  I  was  there 
when  Beurnonville's  propositions  were  made  to 
inc.  I  aeeeded  to  them,  and  re-entered  the  War 
Office. 


BEUBNONVILLE.  43 

Under  the  new  Minister  the  Administration  becan 
to  work  more  regularly,  and  to  emerge  from  the 
lethargy  into  which  Pache  and  Hassenfratz  had 
plunged  it.  But  this  state  of  things  did  not  last 
long.  The  reverses  experienced  by  the  French 
army,  and  which  in  the  early  part  of  1793  forced 
us  to  evacuate  Belgium ;  the  defection  of  Dumouriez ; 
the  internal  discord  in  the  Convention,  a  stormy 
prelude  to  the  Reign  of  Terror  that  followed  the 
execution  of  Louis  XVI.  and  which  was  now 
developing  itself;  these  were  among  the  causes 
that  combined  to  efface  every  trace  of  a  short- 
lived improvement.  Beurnonville,  who  was  sent 
with  Camus,  Guinette,  Lamarque,  and  Bancal, 
Commissioners  of  the  Convention,  to  arrest  Du- 
mouriez, wished  to  take  me  with  him,  as  he  was 
very  friendly  to  me.  I  had  agreed  to  go,  when 
fortunately  the  necessity  for  retaining  a  confidential 
person  in  the  War  Department,  in  which  Beurnon- 
ville  intended  to  resume  his  post  after  a  short 
absence,  led  him  to  decide  on  leaving  me  in  Paris. 
We  know  the  fate  that  awaited  him ;  and  I  should 
no  doubt  have  shared  his  long  imprisonment. 

When,  in  April  1793,  Beurnonville  was  arrested 
by  order  of  Dumouriez,  together  with  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  Convention,  and  the  post  of  War  Minister 
became  vacant,  the  Convention  appointed  Boucbotte 
to   succeed    him.      Boucbotte   was   Commandant   of 


41        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

Arms  at  Cambrai,  and  had  hitherto  been  undistin- 
guished in  the  military  career  on  which  he  had 
barely  entered.  It  was  only  the  favour  of  the 
Paris  Commune  that  had  placed  him  among  the 
candidates.  The  Commune  hoped  to  find  in  him  a 
second  Pache,  and  in  some  respects  were  not  dis- 
appointed. The  devotion  of  the  new  Minister  to 
this  odious  faction  was  unquestionable ;  he  gave 
frequent  proofs  of  it.  Nevertheless,  under  a  plain 
exterior,  with  foolish  ways,  and  a  bearing  which 
often  caused  him  to  be  wrongfully  accused  of  total 
incapacity,  Bouchotte  had  talents  and  qualities  for 
administration,  an  upright  mind,  and  the  capacity 
for  steady  application  to  business.  He  even  displayed 
great  activity,  which  seemed  at  variance  with  his 
physical  organisation.  It  was  while  he  was  Minister 
that  the  garrison  of  Mayence  was  removed  to  La 
Vendee,  and  this  strange  enterprise,  the  manage- 
ment of  which  devolved  upon  me,  was  carried 
through  with  remarkable  precision.  At  this  period, 
too,  the  telegraph,  an  invention  which  rendered 
great  service  to  military  correspondence,  came 
into  use.*    Notwithstanding  the   severity   exercised 


*  M.  Chappe,  tlio  inventor  (or  supposed  to  bo  so)  of  the 
telegraph,  came  to  me  at  the  War  Office.  David,  1  lie  famous 
painter,  introduced  him.  Chappe  explained  to  me  the  method 
of  using  his  machine,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  tachygraphe 
("writes  quickly").  I  proposed  to  him  to  substitute  for  this 
imperfect  description  that  of  telegraphe  ("writes  from  afar"). 


BOUCriOTTE.  45 


in  those  deplorable  days  towards  so  many  general 
officers  whose  lives  were  taken  by  the  Convention, 
I  had  opportunities  of  observing  that  Bouchotte 
was  altogether  opposed  to  these  condemnations, 
and  that  he  saved  the  lives  of  many  persons  who 
do  not  know  they  are  under  any  such  obligation 
to  him.  Among  others,  I  may  name  General 
Canclaux. 

When  a  man  appointed  by  the  Paris  Commune 
made  his  appearance  at  the  Ministry  of  War,  I 
believed  myself  irrecoverably  lost,  and  I  confidently 
expected  the  reappearance  of  all  the  officials  who 
had  been  formerly  employed  by  Pache,  such  as 
Hassenfratz,  Sijas  and  others,  who  had  withdrawn 
with  their  chief.  But,  to  my  great  surprise,  Bouchotte 
did  not  reinstate  them.  He  even  insisted  on  retain- 
ing me,  treated  me  with  the  fullest  confidence  in 
everything  regarding  the  affairs  of  the  Adminis- 
tration, neither  inquired  into  my  political  opinions, 
alluded  on  any  occasion  to  his  own,  nor  solicited 
me  to  embrace  them,  although  I  worked  with  him 
many  hours  daily.  Nevertheless,  I  felt  my  position 
to  be  one  of  constant  constraint.  A  reverse  to  our 
troops,  an  act  of  forgetfulness  or  of  negligence,  any- 
thing that  should  give  room   for    the    most  trivial 


He    adopted    this   alteration.      The    name    "telegraph"    has 
become,  so  to  speak,  a  household  word. 


46        MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

denunciation,  might  bring  irretrievable  ruin  upon 
me,  and  I  ardently  longed  to  escape  from  so  critical 
a  position.  I  saw  that  I  owed  the  consideration  with 
which  I  was  treated  solely  to  the  necessity  that 
existed  for  making  use  of  my  experience  in  the 
Administration,  and  that  so  soon  as  that  necessity 
should  subside,  I  should  be  left  alone  and  without  a 
protector  to  repel  the  attacks  upon  me  that  would 
inevitably  be  renewed.  I  was  convinced  that  the 
Minister  would  not  willingly  dismiss,  nor  would 
he  denounce  me,  but  I  was  also  aware  that  he 
had  some  difficulty  in  maintaining  his  own  position, 
and  that,  as  he  was  obliged  to  purchase  by  continual 
concessions  such  protection  as  was  afforded  him 
by  the  party  which  had  placed  him  in  office,  he 
would  be  unable  to  defend  me,  and  certainlv  would 
not  for  my  sake  put  his  own  popularity  in  peril. 
While  I  was  in  this  state  of  perplexity,  an  oppor- 
tunity of  leaving  my  perilous  post  offered  itself,  and 
I  eagerly  embraced  it.  Several  assistants  had  been 
appointed  to  the  War  Ministry.  One  of  these, 
named  Deforgues,  with  whom  I  had  been  brought 
into  constant  contact,  was  appointed  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  on  June  24,  1793.  He  proposed 
that  I  should  change  into  that  department  with  him, 
and  take  the  place  of  Secretary-General.  I  accepted. 
Bouchotte  was  with  difficulty  induced  to  part  with 
me,    bnl     eventually    he    consented.      I    therefore 


A  NEW  ERA.  47 


relinquished  at  this  time  the  career  I  had  adopted 
in  my  youth,  but  resumed  it,  as  will  appear  in  the 
course  of  my  narrative,  just  after  the  18th  Brumaire, 
year  VIII. 

A  new  era  had  now  begun  for  me.  This 
change  in  my  career  eventually  called  me  to  high 
functions  in  the  public  Administration,  when,  after 
the  Reign  of  Terror,  a  regular  Government  was 
formed  in  France. 

My  first  experiences  in  the  new  course  on  which 
I  was  entering  justified  the  decision  I  had  taken,  and 
realised  some  of  my  expectations.  I  had  calculated 
that,  foreign  relations  with  France  being  for  the 
present  almost  at  an  end,  I  should  be  less  exposed  to 
remarks  in  a  department  which  had  next  to  nothing 
to  do  than  in  the  War  Office,  which  at  that  time 
was  the  centre  of  attention  ;  and  that  Deforgues, 
who,  on  attaining  to  the  Ministry,  had  called  me  to 
his  side  in  consequence  of  the  events  of  May 
31st,  and  who  was  a  man  of  a  firm  and  decided 
character,  would  be  a  more  substantial  support  to 
me.  It  was  also  with  great  inward  satisfaction  that 
I  found  myself  in  an  Administration  where  I  should 
have  to  work  with  men  of  high  intelligence  as  well 
as  of  honourable  character,  such  men  as  MM.  Otto, 
Colchen,  Reinhart  and  Boissonade,  who  were  at  the 
head  of  the  principal  divisions  of  the  Ministry.  The 
mere  difference   in  speech  seemed  to  me  an  inesti- 


48        MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

mable  advantage  ;  to  the  coarse,  rough  ways  adopted 
in  the  War  Office,  succeeded  politeness  and  elegance 
of  manner,  the  result  of  a  gentlemanly  education  and 
the  habit  of  association  with  foreigners.  I  found 
traces  of  the  former  customs  of  the  monarchy  still 
existing  in  this  department.  Far  from  seeking  to 
efface  them,  Deforgues,  who,  notwithstanding  the 
party  he  had  joined,  had  natural  good  sense  and 
sound  judgment,  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  them, 
and  to  desire  a  restoration  of  order,  decorum,  and 
urbanity. 

In  this  way,  with  less  personal  danger  than  I  had 
hitherto  incurred  in  the  terrible  storm  then  de- 
vastating France,  I  passed  through  the  six  months 
which  elapsed  between  June  1793  and  the  end 
of  the  year.  During  that  period  I  had  several 
opportunities  of  seeing  Danton,  the  patron  of 
Deforgues,  at  whose  house  he  frequently  dined.  I 
was  often  invited,  as  were  also  my  colleagues,  Otto 
and  Colchen.  These  dinner-parties  often  included 
Lacroix,  Legendre,  Fabre  d'Eglantine,  Camille 
Desmoulins,  and  less  often  Robespierre,  whom, 
indeed,  I  met  but  once. 

I  will  pause  here  for  an  instant,  and  endeavour  to 
describe  the  impression  which  was  produced  on  me 
by  the  appearance  and  conversation  of  those  famous 
and  criminal  Revolutionists,  whom  I  saw  for  a  few 
moments,  as  it  were,  in  their  private  life,  and  away 


DANTON.  49 


from  the  bloody  stage  on  which  they  daily  displayed 
their  fury.  My  colleagues  and  I  had  our  places  at 
the  end  of  the  table,  and  took  no  part  in  the  con- 
versation ;  we  were  mere  observers,  and  it  is  the 
result  of  my  observations  that  I  am  now  about  to 
record. 

Danton,  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  personages 
whom  I  have  named,  had  a  hideous  face.  His  pro- 
portions were  athletic  ;  in  that  respect  he  was  even 
thought  to  resemble  Mirabeau.  But  the  complexion 
of  the  latter  was  of  a  livid  pallor,  while  that  of 
Danton  was  of  a  reddish-brown,  and  his  countenance 
was  very  animated.  The  tone  of  his  voice  was  impres- 
sive, he  spoke  with  warmth  and  energy  that  appeared 
natural  to  him.  His  elocution  was  fiery,  and  always 
accompanied  by  violent  gesticulations  ;  at  table  he 
generally  struck  the  key-note  of  the  conversation, 
and  made  frequent  use  of  figurative  expressions — 
"  The  chariot-wheels  of  the  Revolution  will  crush  its 
enemies ; "  "  The  Revolution  is  like  Saturn  :  it  will 
devour  its  children  " — and  other  phrases  of  the  same 
kind.  He  felt  profound  contempt  for  the  Girondists, 
regarding  them  as  fools  who  had  recoiled  before 
the  logical  results  of  their  principles.  He  made 
no  secret  of  his  love  of  pleasure  and  of  money, 
and  sneered  at  vain  scruples  of  conscience  and 
delicacy.  Intrenched  in  the  club  of  the  Cordeliers, 
which  he  looked  upon  as  a  citadel  always  open  to  him, 

vol.  I.  E 


50        MEMO  IBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

he  believed  himself  to  be  unassailable.    The  cynicism 
of  his  morals  exhibited  itself  in  his  language,  for  he 
despised  the  hypocrisy  of  some  of  his  colleagues,  and 
his  sarcasms  on  this  vice  were  principally  directed 
against   Robespierre;   whom,    however,   he  did  not 
venture  to  name.     Nevertheless  it  was  easily  to  be 
seen  that  Robespierre  was  the  enemy  whom  he  most 
dreaded,  although  he  affected  to  despise  his  party. 
"  They  would  not  dare,"  he  often  said,  and  this  rash 
confidence  was  his  ruin.     He  thought  himself  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  leave  Paris  in  the  spring  of  1704 
with  impunity,  for  the  purpose  of  passing  a  few  days 
on  an  estate  he  had  acquired  at  Bar-sur-Aube.     He 
gave  himself  up  when  there  to  the  enjoyment  of  the 
luxury  he  had  procured  by  his  extortions  in  Belgium, 
and  thus  absented  himself  from  the  battle-field.     On 
his  return  he  had  lost  his  influence,  and  Robespierre, 
all  powerful  at  the  time,  sent  him  to  the  scaffold. 

Lacroix,  a  friend  of  Danton's,  and  his  colleague 
in  his  mission  to  Belgium,  where  they  both  enriched 
themselves,  was  of  gigantic  stature,  but  of  fine  pro- 
portions, and  was  a  haudsome  man.  He  had  taken 
Danton  for  his  model,  imitated  his  manners,  and 
repeated  or  paraphrased  his  speeches.  The  whole 
of  his  oratorical  talent  lay  in  this  imitation.  He 
spoke  little,  ate  a  great  deal,  and  applauded  the 
sayings  of  his  master  by  gesture  only.  lie  followed 
him  to  the  scaffold. 


FABBE  DEGLANTINE.  51 

Fabre  d'Eglantine's  manner  of  talking  was  grace- 
ful, but  affected.  Notwithstanding  his  efforts  to 
conform  to  the  Revolutionary  style  of  speech,  it 
was  evidently  antipathetic  to  him,  and  the  ring  of 
a  refined  education  was  heard  through  a  coarse 
exterior.  When  the  conversation  turned,  as  rarely 
happened,  on  literary  subjects,  he  eagerly  joined 
in  it,  and  displayed  great  acquirements.  He  was 
an  admirer  of  Moliere,  and  spoke  of  him  enthusias- 
tically. I  have  heard  him  make  remarks  on 
the  works  of  that  great  genius  which  were  as 
striking  as  they  were  novel.  I  remember  that, 
when  descanting  one  day  on  the  merits  of  the 
"  Bourgeois  Gentilhomme,"  he  said :  "  It  is  a  great 
mistake  to  think  in  this  play  that  Moliere  intended 
to  insult  the  middle  classes.  He  aimed  it  at  the 
nobility,  and  was  merciless.  He  certainly  holds  up 
to  ridicule  the  folly  of  a  bourgeois  who  wants  to  pass 
for  a  nobleman ;  but  M.  Jourdain,  with  all  his 
folly,  is  none  the  less  a  very  upright  man ;  a  good 
husband,  a  good  father,  a  generous  and  practical 
friend.  The  rogue,  in  the  play,  is  the  gentleman, 
Dorante,  who  is  both  a  flatterer  and  a  cheat.  He 
is  a  wretch,  who  deserves  only  our  contempt. 
All  Moliere's  talent  was  needed  to  mislead  as 
to  his  real  meaning,  and  at  the  same  time  it 
required  immense  courage  thus  to  exhibit  the  vices 
of  courtiers   on    the  stage,  under  the  very  eyes   of 

E  2 


52        MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

the  Court."  This  view  of  Moliere's  genius  reveals 
discernment  in  the  critic,  and  Fabre  d' Eglantine  has 
proved  by  his  own  writings  for  the  stage  that  lie 
could  appreciate  and  successfully  imitate  him  whom 
he  had  taken  for  his  model.  He  was  indicted  as  an 
accomplice  of  Danton,  and  perished  with  him. 

Legendre,  a  Paris  butcher,  was  of  small  stature, 
and  deeply  pitted  with  small-pox.  He  spoke  with 
the  greatest  facility.  Grifted  by  nature  with  ex- 
traordinary but  quite  uncultivated  eloquence,  his 
speeches  in  public,  bis  conversation  in  private,  were 
full  of  original  and  happy  turns.  He  was  an  ardent 
patriot,  and  fell  into  the  greatest  revolutionary  ex- 
cesses, but  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  acted  in  good 
faith  and  sincerity,  following  the  impulses  of  a 
passionate  but  misguided  love  of  liberty,  and  a  mind 
never  restrained  by  the  curb  of  reason  or  reflection. 
I  often  admired  this  man  when,  on  leaving  the  Con- 
vention  where  he  had  supported  the  most  blood- 
thirsty proceedings,  he  would  return  to  private  life, 
and  talk  to  us  of  its  charms  with  an  accent  of  truth 
impossible  to  simulate.  He  would  speak  of  his  own 
domestic  happiness,  of  his  wife  and  children,  in  the 
tone  of  the  best  of  husbands  and  fathers,  sometimes 
U'traying  his  emotion  by  the  tears  that  stood  in  his 
eyes.  He  was  an  incomprehensible  mixture  of 
political  ferocity  and  social  virtues,  proving  that 
man,  with   his  strange  mobility  of  imagination,  can 


LEG  END  BE.  53 


unite  in  himself  the  most  wondrous  contradictions. 
He  was  a  partisan  of  Danton,  whom  he  regarded,  he 
said,  as  the  Hercules  of  the  Revolution,  and  was 
never  weary  of  praising  him  when  speaking  of  his 
talents  in  a  public  capacity ;  but  he  blamed  him 
openly  for  his  manner  of  life,  and  for  his  luxurious 
tastes,  and  never  joined  in  any  of  his  disgraceful 
speculations.  Animated  discussions  on  this  subject 
would  frequently  arise  between  them ;  and  although 
Danton  always  turned  the  matter  into  a  jest,  and 
pretended  to  laugh  at  the  preaching  of  his  colleague, 
Legendre  never  yielded,  and  it  was  evident  that  his 
words  pierced  to  the  quick.  Lastly,  this  remarkable 
and  singularly-organised  man  had  succeeded  in  in- 
spiring such  a  general  respect  that,  notwithstanding 
his  openly-avowed  attachment  to  Danton,  Saint-Just 
did  not  venture  to  include  him  in  the  indictment  of 
the  latter.  And  although,  even  after  the  death  of 
Danton,  Legendre  continued  to  defend  him,  he  was 
never  proscribed,  but  was  in  a  position  to  attack 
Robespierre  on  the  9th  Thermidor,  and  to  contribute 
to  his  fall.  He  was  therefore  an  exception,  and 
although  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  members  of  the 
Convention,  he  escaped  almost  alone  from  the  fate 
which  the  fiery  revolutionists  of  that  terrible  time 
had  to  endure.  After  the  establishment  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  Year  III.  he  was  elected  member  of  the 
Council  of  Former  Members  (Conseil  des  Anciens), 


54        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

and  died  in  his  bed,  at  Paris,  at  the  beginning  of 
year  VI.  (end  of  1797),  being  still  a  member  of  the 
Council,  and  leaving  no  fortune  behind  him. 

Camille  Desmoulins  was  also  among  the  number 
of  those  who  dined  pretty  frequently  at  Deforgues'. 
His  personal  appearance  was  commonplace,  lie  had 
no  external  advantages,  nor  did  his  conversation 
belie  the  grudging  hand  with  which  Nature  had 
endowed  him.  Gloomy  and  silent,  his  countenance 
wore  an  expression  of  profound  melancholy,  and  it 
was  difficult  to  recognise  the  orator  of  the  early  days 
of  the  Revolution  of  1780,  the  orator  who,  standing 
on  a  chair  at  the  Palais  Royal,  had  by  his  stirring 
speech  produced  the  great  popular  movement  of 
that  famous  period.  At  the  time  when  I  was  in  the 
habit  of  seeing  him,  he  was  horror-struck  at  the 
terrible  scenes  which  passed  before  his  eyes  every 
day,  and  was  endeavouring  to  arouse  a  spirit  of 
humanity.  In  several  numbers  of  a  newspaper 
entitled  *  Le  Vieux  Cordelier,'  which  was  edited  by 
bim,  he  ventured  (for  it  was  then  an  act  of  the 
greatest  courage)  to  advocate  a  return  to  clemency. 
Danton  laughed  at  him  for  what  he  chose  to  call  his 
weakness,  but  Camille  Desmoulins,  who  was  also 
excluded  by  each  so-called  patriotic  society  for  having 
advocated  these  new  doctrines,  made  no  reply.  His 
gloom  announced  lli;il  lie  already  foresaw  llie  i'ale 
awaiting   him,    and   the   few  words  that   he   uttered 


CAMILLE  DESMOULINS.  55 

were    always     inquiries     or     observations    on    the 
sentences  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal,  on  the  kind 
of  death  inflicted  on  the  condemned,  and  on  the  most 
dignified    and    decorous  way   of   preparing  for  and 
enduring  it.      His  presentiment  was  soon  realised. 
He  was  included  by  Saint-Just  in  the  indictment  of 
Danton  and  his  party,  although  no  appearance  even 
of  complicity  justified  that  strange  combination,  and 
he  was  brought  before  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal. 
He  was  astonished,  he  says,  to  find  himself  associated 
with  rogues,  and  made  a  strange  and  impious  reply, 
but  one  which  is  characteristic  of  the  times,*  to  the 
interrogatory  of  the  President,  who  asked  him  his 
age.     He  went  to  the  scaffold  in  the  same  tumbril 
with  Danton. 

I  have  still  to  speak  of  Robespierre.  I  saw  him, 
as  I  have  already  said,  once  only.  Elegant  in  dress, 
carefully  curled  and  powdered,  composed  in  manner, 
he  formed  the  most  curious  contrast  with  the 
disorder,  affected  neglect,  and  coarseness  that  ap- 
peared in  the  attire  and  manners  of  his  colleagues. 
His  deportment  was  grave,  and  he  took  hardly  any 
part  in  the  conversation,  speaking  only  now  and 
then  a  few  sententious  words.  But  notwithstanding 
the  immobility  of  his  pale  and  sinister  countenance, 
it  was  evident  that  he  did  not  feel  at  his  ease,  and 

*  Camille  Desnioulins  replied :  "  I  am  of  the  age  of  that  goorl 
sans-culotte  Jesus — thirty-three  years." 


56        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MEL  IT  0. 

I    learned   afterwards   that   he   owed    a   grudge    to 
Deforgues  for  having  thrown  him  into  the  company 
of    men   whom   he    pretended    to    regard   as    very 
uncertain  patriots,  or  what  was  still  more  criminal 
in   his   eves,    as    "  Moderates."      Thus   the    conver- 
sation    at   dinner  was  constrained.     I  also  thought 
I   could    perceive   by    the    few    words    uttered    by 
Robespierre    that  he    especially   desired   to    be   dis- 
tinguished as  a  great  statesman.     He  spoke  of  the 
foreign    relations    of    France,    of    the    necessity    of 
extending  them  and  of  making  a  fresh  alliance  with 
Switzerland.       He  had  already  made  some  enquiries 
in  the  Foreign  Department  on  the  latter  subject,  and 
I  recollect  that  M.  Colchen,  who  was  at  the  head  of 
the    division    of    the    Ministry   which    includes    the 
Swiss  Confederation,  received  with  no  little  alarm  an 
invitation  to  a  conference  at  the  Minister's  at  which 
Robespierre  was  to  be  present.    I  recall  this  anecdote 
only  to  show  that  even  at  this  period  Robespierre 
flattered  himself  he  might  become  the  head  of  the 
Government,  and  that  his  ambition  was  to  acquire 
the  reputation  of  a  statesman  and  great  politician. 

After  this  digression,  I  resume  the  thread  of  my 
narrative.  But  before  continuing,  I  would  remark 
I  hat  the  beginning  of  the  Republican  Era  having 
been  fixed  at  September  22,  1702,  the  second  year 
of  the  I 'epublic  commenced  on  September  22,  17!K'?, 
and,  dating   from   that  period,  the   use  of  the  vulgar 


THE  NEW  CALENDAR.  57 


era  was  interdicted.*  Therefore  all  dates  that  I 
shall  mention  will  be  according  to  the  New  Era, 
and  I  shall  merely  indicate  the  years  of  the  Old 
Calendar  to  which  they  refer.  I  shall  follow  this 
plan  until  January  1,  1806,  when  the  Republican 
Era  was  abolished  and  the  use  of  the  Gregorian 
Calendar  restored. 

I  passed  the  remainder  of  the  year  1793  (the 
early  part  of  year  II.)  in  discharging  the  duties  of 
Secretary-General  at  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
and  I  took  advantage  of  the  frequent  leisure  which 
my  post  afforded,  at  a  time  when  we  had  scarcely 
any  dealings  with  Foreign  Powers,  to  examine  the 
archives  of  my  department,  and  to  extract  from  them 
knowledge  of  a  kind  which  up  to  that  time  I  had 
had  no  opportunity  of  acquiring.  This  period  of 
tranquillity,  which  I  owed  to  my  obscure  position, 
did  not  last  long.  Danton,  accused  on  Germinal  12, 
year  II.  (April  1,  1794),  by  the  Committee  of  Public 
Safety,  of  which  Saint-Just  was  the  reporter,  had 
been  arrested  on  the  preceding  day.  Being  brought 
five  days  later  before  the  Revolutionary  Tri- 
bunal, his  head  fell  on  the  scaffold  (Germinal  10). 

*  As  the  New  Calendar  was  not  decreed  until  several  weeks 
after  September  22, 1793,  the  '  Moniteur,'  counting  from  October 
16  of  that  year,  is  dated  the  second  month  of  the  Eepublic,  and 
only  from  October  31  by  the  new  names  of  the  months.  The 
first  of  these  new  dates,  Decadi,  Brumaire,  year  If.,  heads  the 
'  Moniteur  '  of  October  31,  1793. 


58        MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

The  fall  of  Danton  was  soon  followed  by  that  of 
Deforgues.  He  was  arrested,  and  until  the  Com- 
missions which  were  to  take  the  place  of  the 
Executive  Council,  and  that  of  the  Ministers  who 
had  been  suppressed  by  a  decree  of  Germinal  12 
should  be  established,  the  Convention  appointed 
Hermann  to  succeed  him.  That  provisional  Minister 
did  not,  however,  appear  at  the  Office  of  Foreign 
Affairs ;  the  new  Commissioners  were  appointed 
soon  after.  (Germinal  29,  year  II.,  April  18,  1794). 
The  "  Commissioner  of  Exterior  Relations,"  a  de- 
nomination substituted  for  that  of  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  arrived  to  take  possession  of  that  department. 
This  Commissioner's  name  was  Buchot.  He  came 
from  the  Department  of  the  Jura,  where  he  had  been 
a  schoolmaster  in  a  small  town.  His  ignorance,  his 
bad  manners,  his  stupidity  surpassed  anything  that 
can  be  imagined.  During  five  months  that  he  was  at 
the  head  of  the  department,  he  did  not  occupy  him- 
self with  it  in  the  least,  and  indeed  was  incapable  of 
so  doing.  The  heads  of  divisions  had  abandoned  the 
idea  of  working  with  him;  he  neither  saw  them  nor 
asked  for  them  ;  he  was  never  to  be  found  in  his 
Cabinet,  and  when  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
obtain  his  signature  for  the  purpose  of  legalising 
documents— he  had  reduced  his  functions  to  tins 
act  alone— he  had  to  be  fetched  from  the  billiard- 
table  at  the  Cafe  Bardy,  where  he  generally  passed 


BUCHOT.  59 


his  days.  On  the  other  hand,  apathetic  as  he  was 
in  business,  Bucliot  was  fatally  active  when  called 
upon  to  second  the  bloodthirstiness  of  Robespierre's 
party,  who  had  appointed  him  because  he  was  a  friend 
of  the  President  of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal ;  and 
it  was  not  long  before  the  effects  of  the  hatred  he 
bore  to  my  colleagues  and  to  me  became  apparent. 
When  Robespierre,  threatened  by  a  section  of  the 
Convention,  multiplied  the  number  of  victims  whom 
he  sacrificed  each  day  in  order  to  diminish  the  number 
of  his  enemies,  Buchot  denounced  us  as  "  Moderates," 
who  could  not  too  quickly  be  got  rid  of.  On 
8th  Thermidor,  year  II.  (July  27,  1704),  he  obtained 
a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  Otto,  Colchen,  Reinhart, 
and  myself,  from  the  Committee  of  General  Safety. 
The  next  morning,  Buchot,  with  a  devilish  smile, 
announced  our  fate  to  me,  and  went  out  to  defend 
Robespierre's  interests  at  the  Commune.  But  it  was 
the  9th  Thermidor  !  We  were  saved,  although  on 
the  following  day,  notwithstanding  the  events  of 
the  9th,  an  attempt  was  made  to  enforce  the  warrant 
of  arrest.  This  decree,  with  a  great  many  others  of 
the  same  kind,  had  passed  in  due  course  through 
the  office  of  the  Committee  of  General  Safety,  which 
had  proceeded  to  carry  it  out.  In  fact  it  was  only 
through  the  solicitations  of  M.  Humbert,  the  chief 
of  the  Finance  Department  of  our  office,  that  we  ob- 
tained the  revocation  of  the  sentence,  and,  free  from 


GO         MEMOIBS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

fear,  could  share  in  the  universal  joy  displayed 
throughout  Paris  when  the  fall  of  the  monsters  who 
had  enslaved  France  and  drenched  her  in  blood 
became  known.  M.  Otto  only,  in  consequence  of  a 
further  denunciation,  was  arrested  a  few  weeks  after.* 

For  some  months  after  the  9  th  Thermidor,  the 
National  Convention,  engaged  in  destroying  the 
remnant  of  a  party  whose  head  only  had  been 
wounded,  did  not  set  about  re-establishing  order  in 
the  public  administration.  The  Commissioners  who 
had  succeeded  the  Ministers  continued  to  occupy 
their  places,  and  we  beheld  the  reappearance  of 
Buchot !  He  was  somewhat  humbler  and  less 
formidable,  but  no  less  incapable.  At  the  end  of 
year  II.  (September  1794)  the  offices  of  the  Minis- 
try of  Exterior  Relations  were  removed  from  Rue 
Cerutti  (now  Rue  Lafitte),  where  they  had  been 
established,  to  the  Hotel  Gallifet  in  the  Rue  du  Bac. 

At  last,   the  Committee  of  Public   Safety  of  the 
National  Convention,  which  held  the  reins  of  Grovern- 

*  M.  Otto  was  taken  to  the  Luxembourg  Prison,  but  lie 
remained  there  only  a  short  time,  and  the  suspicions  which  had 
led  to  this  act  of  severity  were  quickly  dispelled.  Deforgues, 
who  was  much  attached  to  him,  was  released  from  the  same 
prison  after  the  9th  Thermidor.  lie  worked  with  the  greatest 
zeal  to  obtain  the  liberty  of  his  companion  in  misfortune. 
I  was  luckily  able  to  assist  liini  in  his  efforts,  and  we  succeeded 
in  procuring  an  order  of  release  from  the  Committee  of  General 
Safety,  armed  with  which  we  went  to  fetch  M..Otto  from  the 
Luxembourg  al  live  in  the  morning. 


ADMINISTRATIVE  BEF0B3I.  Gl 

ment,  was  brought  by  the  force  of  circumstances  to 
ideas  of  order,  and  felt  the  necessity  for  a  reform  of 
the  public  administration,  which  was  completely  dis- 
organised by  revolutionary  excesses,  by  the  internal 
divisions  of  the  Assembly,  and  by  the  incapacity 
of  the  lately-appointed  officials.  The  Government, 
anxious  to  assume  a  more  dignified  attitude  towards 
the  European  Powers,  showed  a  disposition  to  listen 
to  the  overtures  of  peace,  which  the  astonishing 
victories  of  the  French  army  had  induced  some  of 
the  Foreign  Cabinets  to  make  privately.  In  this 
new  phase  of  the  public  mind,  it  was  impossible  to 
leave  the  Commission  of  Exterior  Relations  in  the 
abject  and  absurd  state  to  which  its  ridiculous  chief 
had  allowed  it  to  sink.  MM.  Otto,  Colchen,  Reinhart 
and  myself,  were  therefore  summoned  before  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  early  in  Brumaire, 
year  III.  Four  members  of  the  Committee  had  been 
ordered  to  hold  a  conference  with  each  of  us,  in  which 
we  were  to  pass  a  kind  of  examination.  Merlin  (of 
Douai),  Cambace'res,  Thuriot  and  another,  whose 
name  I  do  not  recollect,  had  been  selected.  I  fell  to 
the  share  of  Thuriot. 

He  put  questions  to  me  as  to  my  antecedents, 
asked  me  whether  I  had  passed  through  a  regular 
course  of  study,  and  knew  Latin,  and  he  appeared 
pleased  when  I  told  him  I  was  acquainted  with  that 
language,  and  that  I  had  also  learned  some  others, 


G2        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  M10T  BE  MELITO. 

viz.,  Italian,  English  and  German.  After  tliis  inter- 
rogatory, which  lasted  half  an  hour,  he  informed 
me  that  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  intended  to 
propose  to  the  Convention  that  the  "  Department  of 
Exterior  Relations ''  should  he  so  organised  as  to 
enable  it  to  carry  on  certain  political  negotiations 
which  had  been  already  opened,  and  that  he  had 
thought  of  me  as  successor  to  the  present  Com- 
missioner, whose  incapacity  was  generally  acknow- 
ledged.* We  then  parted,  and  on  rejoining  my 
colleagues  I  found  that  they  had  undergone  much 
the  same  sort  of  examination. 

The  results  of  this  singular  conference  were  not 
long  delayed ;  by  a  decree  of  the  Convention  dated 
18th  Brumaire,  year  III.  (November  8,  1794),  I  was 
appointed  Commissioner  of  Exterior  Relations.  MM. 
Otto,  Colchen  and  Reinhart  were  specially  attached 
to  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety.  They  were  to 
attend  to  details,  as  well  as  to  diplomatic  corre- 
spondence, and  I  took  up  my  abode  in  the  offices  to 
which,  as  I  have  said  before,  the  Ministry  of  Foreign 
Affairs  had  been  transferred  two  months  previously. 

These   various   changes    had   taken   place  without 

the  knowledge  of  Buchot,  who  learned  them  from 

a  newspaper    which    he    bought    in  the    street    on 

that  evening.      I   nevertheless    called  upon  him  on 

*  This  awkward    appellation    was   substituted   for  that,  of 
Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  which  was  subsequently  restored. 


AN  EX-MINISTEIi.  63 


the  day  after  my  nomination,  and  treated  him  with 
the  courtesy  usual  on  such  occasions.  This,  however, 
he  seemed  to  appreciate  but  little,  He  only  told  me 
that  he  should  he  much  inconvenienced  if  I  insisted 
on  his  immediately  vacating  the  apartments  he  occu- 
pied at  the  Hotel  of  the  Commission.  I  assured  him 
that,  as  I  had  no  intention  of  sleeping  there,  he  was 
at  liberty  to  remain  until  he  had  provided  himself 
with  another  residence.  He  thanked  me,  and  said 
that  the  Committee  had  done  well  in  appointing  me, 
but  that  it  was  very  unpleasant  for  him  to  have 
been  brought  to  Paris,  obliged  to  give  up  his 
profession  in  the  country,  and  afterwards  left  in 
the  lurch.  And  then  he  took  it  into  his  head  to 
ask  me  for  a  place  in  my  office !  I  tried  to  make 
him  understand  that  it  would  be  the  height  of 
indecorum  on  his  part  to  accept  a  secondary  post 
in  a  department  of  which  he  had  once  been  the 
head.  He  thought  such  a  scruple  very  extraordinary, 
and  finding  that  I  hesitated  to  give  an  affirmative 
reply,  he  said  that  in  the  event  of  my  not  finding 
him  capable  of  filling  the  place  of  clerk,  which  he 
was  soliciting,  he  would  be  satisfied  with  that  of 
office-boy.  I  felt  ashamed  to  witness  such  meanness, 
and,  after  a  few  vague  excuses,  I  left  him.  He 
continued  to  sleep  at  the  Hotel  for  about  a  week, 
but  I  did  not  see  him  again.  One  morning  I  was 
told  that  he  had  not  come  in  on  the  previous  evening, 


64        MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

and  that  he  had  removed  his  property.  I  am  ignorant 
of  what  happened  to  him  afterwards ;  he  was  an  ex- 
traordinary character ;  the  most  singular  mixture  of 
baseness,  ignorance  and  ferocity  that  can  be  imagined. 
The  organisation  of  the  Department  of  Exterior 
Relations  being  decided  on,  as  I  have  previously 
stated,  a  satisfactory  activity  set  in.  I  worked 
systematically  with  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety, 
which  at  that  time  consisted  of  men  to  whom,  what- 
ever we  may  think  of  their  political  conduct  in  the 
course  of  the  Revolution,  we  cannot  deny  the  posses- 
sion of  great  ability.  Among  these  are  Merlin 
(of  Douai),  Cambaceres,  Sieyes,  Fourcroy,  Boissy 
d'Anglas,  Carnot,  and  others.  I  endeavoured  to 
renew  our  foreign  relations,  so  far  as  the  isolation 
in  which  the  coalition  of  all  the  Powers  against 
France  bad  placed  her  rendered  it  possible  to  do  so. 
Consuls  were  despatched  to  all  countries  where 
there  was  a  hope  of  their  being  received.  A  circular 
letter  addressed  to  the  agents  of  the  Republic  abroad, 
instructed  them  to  regard  enquiries  into  the  state 
of  science,  of  art,  and  of  social  progress  in  general, 
in  1 1 10  countries  where  they  exercised  their  functions, 
as  one  of  their  first  duties.  The  famous  Tolney, 
with  whom  I  became  intimate  at  that  time,  and 
who  honoured  me  with  bis  friendship  until  his  death, 
drew  up  ;it  my  request  a  series  of  questions  on  poli- 
tical economy,  which  I  forwarded  to  those  agents,  and 


THE  STATE  OF  THINGS.  65 

the  answers  conveyed  to  us  a  tolerably  accurate 
idea  of  the  peoples  among  whom  they  dwelt.*  I 
ordered  foreign  publications  and  newspapers  to  be 
sent  to  me,  and  formed  a  plan  of  founding  a  library 
and  reading-room  on  the  premises  of  the  Foreign 
Office,  which  should  be  available  for  all  who  might 
choose  to  come  to  these  for  information.  Trans- 
lators paid  by  the  G-overnment  would  assist  per- 
sons ignorant  of  the  original  languages  in  their 
researches. 

The  Committee  of  Public  Safety  supported  my 
views,  and  readily  accepted  the  propositions  that 
I  laid  before  it.  We  were  then  endeavouring  to 
emerge  from  the  abyss  of  anarchy,  and  it  would 
be  unjust  not  to  acknowledge  the  efforts  of  the 
Committee  to  re-establish  order,  and  to  restore 
France,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  to  Europe,  whence 
she  had  been  in  a  manner  exiled.  Although  sur- 
rounded by  dangers  which  were  the  work  of  the 
still  smouldering  factions,  and  which  on  the  12th 
Germinal,  3rd  Prairial,  year  III.,  and  13th  Ven- 
de'miaire,  year  IY.  (April,  May,  and  October, 
1795),  threatened  it  with  overthrow;  in  constant 
alarm  on  account  of  the  famine  that  was  laying 
Paris   waste,   and   making   a   popular    rising  immi- 

*  These   questions,   which   are   a   model   of    precision    and 
sagacity,  were  published  in  Nivose,  year  III.  (January  1795), 
together   with   the   Circular   Letter   that    accompanied   them. 
They  form  a  small  volume  in  18mo.,  now  rather  scarce. 
VOL.  I.  F 


GG        MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

nent ;  obliged  to  supply  the  enormous  necessities 
of  fourteen  armies,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  con- 
solidate their  first  triumphs  and  obtain  fresh 
successes ;  finally,  although  hampered  in  all  its 
movements,  and  suspected  in  all  its  purposes,  the 
Committee  did  not  flinch  from  the  burden,  but 
evinced  the  most  astonishing  activity  and  the  most 
unwavering  fidelity — I  will  not  say  to  the  con- 
fidence reposed  in  it  by  the  public  (neither  the 
nation  nor  even  the  Convention  honoured  it  with 
any),  but  to  the  greatness  of  the  task  imposed  on  it 
Dy  destiny.  History  bears  witness  that  during  the 
administration  of  the  Committee  which  lasted  over 
a  year,  from  the  9th  Thermidor,  year  II.  (July  28, 
1794),  until  the  establishment  of  the  Constitution  of 
year  III.  in  the  month  of  Vendemiaire,  year  IV. 
(October  1795),  France  was  victorious  everywhere; 
and  if  not  respected  abroad,  she  was  at  least  feared, 
for  during  that  interval  several  foreign  cabinets 
solicited  peace,  and  so  far  sacrificed  their  pride 
as  to  treat  with  a  Republic  that  they  had  openly 
scorned. 

The  negotiations  entered  into  by  the  Committee 
of  Public  Safety  came  to  a  speedy  and  prosperous 
issue.  Count  Carletti,  Envoy  from  the  Grand  Duke 
of  Tuscany,  came  to  Paris  to  negotiate  a  renewal  of 
neutrality  between  the  French  Republic  and  Tus- 
cany.     The    treaty   of    peace    concluded    by   this 


THE  TREATIES.  67 


Minister  with  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  was 
ratified  bv  the  National  Convention  on  25th  Phi- 
viose,  year  III.  (February  13,  1795),  on  being 
reported  by  Richard.* 

Another  more  important  treaty  was  signed  shortly 
afterwards  (16th  Germinal,  year  III.,  April,  5, 1795), 
between  Prussia  and  France.  Holland,  Spain,  and 
the  Landgrave  of  Hesse-Cassel  also  recognised  and 
treated  with  the  Republic  in  the  course  of  the  same 
year.f 

"With  the  exception  of  the  treaty  with  Tuscany, 
which,  as  I  have  said,  was  negotiated  at  Paris, 
directly,  between  Count  Carletti  and  the  Commit- 
tee of  Public  Safety,  the  others  were  negotiated 
and  signed  at  Bale  by  the  French  Ambassador, 
M.  Barthe'lemy,  according  to  instructions  from  the 
Committee.  The  negotiations  entrusted  to  this 
diplomatist  were  conducted  with  all  the  skill  he 
had  acquired  in  his  long  experience  of  affairs ;  but 
they  did  not  present  the  difficulties  that  might  have 
been  expected  in  first  transactions  of  this  kind  be- 
tween a  Government  quite  recently  established,  and 
long-existing  powers  which  had  but  lately  shown 
so  deep  an  aversion  to  the  doctrines  on  which  it  was 

*  The  treaty  itself  bears  date  21st  Pluviose  (February  9). 

t  Holland  on  27th  Floreal  (May  15);  Spain,  4th  Thermidor 
(July  22);  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse-Cassel,  11th  Fructidor 
(August  28),  year  IIT.  (1795). 

F    2 


68        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

founded.  It  is  certain,  I  have  had  opportunities  of 
ascertaining  the  fact,  that  the  advances  were  not 
made  by  the  Republic,  but  that,  on  the  contrary, 
all  the  preliminary  steps  were  taken  by  the  foreign 
cabinets.  Two  powerful  motives  induced  the  latter 
to  hasten  the  conclusion  of  peace ;  first,  the  fear  of 
bringing  troops  full  of  enthusiasm,  elated  by  a  long 
succession  of  victories,  and  whom  no  obstacle  seemed 
able  to  stop,  on  their  territory;  and  secondly,  the 
dread  that  the  principles  professed  by  these  troops, 
and  which  rendered  them  so  formidable,  might 
penetrate  into  the  heart  of  the  ancient  political 
constitutions  of  Europe,  carrying  with  them  the 
germs  of  revolution. 

The  third  year  of  the  Republic  may  then  be 
justly  considered  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  in  the 
history  of  the  nation.  During  the  course  of  this 
single  year  France,  victorious  within,  over  the 
tyranny  of  Robespierre  and  the  revolutionary  mad- 
ness, closed  the  den  of  the  Jacobins,  made  for 
herself  a  constitution  in  which,  although  it  had 
imperfections  that  might  have  easily  been  removed, 
the  first  principles  of  the  balance  of  power  were 
laid  down,  and  a  regular  Government,  offering  such 
sufficient  guarantees  that  other  Governments  no 
longer  feared  to  treat  with  her,  was  established. 
Abroad,  she  regained  a  high  degree  of  political 
consideration,    made    peace    with    enemies    hitherto 


THE  PRICE  OF  GLORY.  69 

bent  on  her  ruin,  imposed  severe  conditions  on  them, 
and  herself  submitted  to  none  that  could  lower  her 
dignity.  Finally,  she  carried  her  arms  into  the 
neighbouring  countries,  while  she  no  longer  suffered 
a  single  foreign  soldier  to  tread  her  soil.  Every- 
thing promised  a  great  and  lasting  prosperity  for 
her  in  the  future  ;  but  the  rulers  whom  the  Con- 
stitution of  year  III.  placed  at  her  head  possessed 
neither  ability  nor  worth;  and  when,  five  years 
later,  she  repudiated  that  constitution,  the  nation, 
dazzled  with  glory,  heedlessly  adopted  institutions 
which,  as  they  deviated  completely  from  her  pro- 
fessed principles  and  rested  on  no  solid  basis,  were 
speedily  overthrown. 

Victory  alone  was  for  long  years  faithful  to  France, 
and  it  dazzled  her ;  but  her  glory  was  bought  at  the 
heavy  price  of  the  loss  of  liberty. 


70         MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MEL1TO. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Author  is  appointed  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Grand 
Duke  of  Tuscany — The  12th  Germinal — The  Author  embarks 
at  Marseilles  for  Genoa,  and  proceeds  from  thence  to 
Florence — Eeport  to  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  on 
the  political  state  of  Florence — Difficulties  caused  by  the 
presence  of  the  French  Emigres  at  Leghorn,  and  by  the  ill-will 
of  the  Tuscan  authorities  towards  the  Eepublic — General 
Buonaparte  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  army  of  Italy 
— Opening  of  the  campaign  and  series  of  victories  obtained 
by  the  young  General — The  Governments  of  Italy  take 
steps  towards  obtaining  peace — The  Author  determines  to 
proceed  to  Buonaparte's  headquarters. 

The  re-establishment  of  political  relations  between 
France  and  several  of  the  European  Powers,  and 
an  impulse  of  greater  activity  given  to  those  which 
had  not  been  entirely  broken  off,  with  Sweden, 
Denmark,  Switzerland,  and  thu  United  States,  had 
once  more  thrown  open  the  career  of  diplomacy. 

I  was  only  thirty-two  years  of  age;  1  was 
longing  for  knowledge,  for  1  ravel;  I  desired  there- 
fore to  obtain  a  diplomatic  post,  and  the  Committee 
of  Public  Safety  showed  itself  willing  to  accede  to 


MINISTER  PLENIPOTENTIARY.  71 


my  wishes.  I  was  permitted  to  choose  between  the 
mission  to  Florence  and  that  to  the  United  States. 
My  tastes  led  me  to  select  the  former. 

On  9th  Pluviose,  year  III.  (February  6,  1795),  I 
was  appointed  Minister  Plenipotentiary  at  the  Court 
of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany.     The  decree  of  the 
Committee   of  Public   Safety   containing   my  nomi- 
nation is  signed  by  Cambace'res,  Merlin  (of  Douai), 
Maret,  Pelet,  Carnot,  A.  Dumont,  Fourcroy,  Boissy 
d'Anglas,  Chazal  and  Dubois  de  Crance.     M.  Fre- 
ville*    was   appointed   Secretary    of  Legation,    and 
M.  Finet,  a  painter,  was  at  my  request  nominated  to 
reside  with  me  at  Florence.     In  his  capacity  as  an 
artist  he  was  to  negotiate  an   exchange  of  pictures 
between    the    two    Governments,  to   their   mutual 
advantage. 

Meanwhile    the  Grand  Duke  published  through- 
out  his   States,   on    March    1,   1795,  the   treaty  of 
peace    he    had    just    concluded    with    France,    and 
despatched    letters    accrediting    Count    Carletti    to 
the  functions  of  Minister   Plenipotentiary  in  Paris. 
M.  Carletti  was    solemnly  received    in  that  charac- 
ter by  the  Convention  on  28th  Yentose  (March  17), 
and  the  minutes   of  this    extraordinary  sitting   are 
recorded    in    French    and    also    in    Italian    at   the 
National  Printing  Office.    This  was  the  first  political 
triumph  obtained  by  the  Republic. 
*  He  died  at  Paris,  a  Councillor  of  State  and  a  Peer  of  France. 


72        MEMOIBS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

M.  Colclien  succeeded  me  a  few  days  later  as 
Commissioner  of  External  Relations,  and  my  letter 
of  credit,  together  with  my  instructions,  were  handed 
to  me  on  the  9th  Germinal  (March  24). 

All  being  thus  in  order,  I  was  preparing  to  start, 
when  a  fresh  disturbance  threatening  the  Con- 
vention led  me  to  postpone  my  journey,  in  order 
that  I  might  observe  its  tendency  and  effects. 

The  remnant  of  Robespierre's  faction  was  still 
active,  and  as  the  conduct  of  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety  deprived  that  party  of  all  hope  of 
regaining  power  in  the  Assembly,  whether  by 
eloquent  speech,  or  by  influence  over  men's  minds, 
it  attempted,  by  an  insurrectionary  movement,  to  lay 
forcible  hands  on  the  authority  of  which  the  9th 
Thermidor  had  deprived  it.  Numerous  bodies  of 
armed  men,  delegated  by  various  sections,  forced 
their  way  into  the  hall  of  Assembly  during  the 
session  of  the  12th  Germinal  (April  1),  shouting 
loudly  for  bread,  for  the  constitution  of  1793,  and 
for  the  release  of  the  patriots,  viz.,  Collot  dTIerbois, 
Billaud-Yarennes  and  others,  who  had  been  arrested 
some  time  previously.  The  Assembly  maintained 
its  tranquillity  during  this  attack;  Boissy  d'Anglas, 
especially,  distinguished  himself  by  the  courageous 
firmness  which  was  afterwards  put  to  a  terrible  lest. 

At  length  the  Assembly  passed  a  decree  at  this 
memorable  silling,  which   lasted  until  six  o'clock  in 


A  MEMOBABLE  SITTING.  73 

the  morning,  ordering  the  immediate  transportation 
of  Collot  d'Herbois,  Billaud-Varennes,  Barrere  and 
Yadier ;  and  the  arrest  of  several  members  of  the 
Convention,  including  Chaudieu,  Leonard  Bourdon, 
and  others.  Pichegru,  who  then  appeared  for  the 
first  time  on  the  political  stage,  was  entrusted  with 
the  command  of  Paris,  and  the  city  was  declared  to 
be  in  a  state  of  siege.  Numerous  patrols  perambu- 
lated the  streets  of  the  capital  during  the  night,  and 
I  myself  made  part  of  the  patrol  ordered  by  the 
"  Section "  in  which  I  resided.  In  spite  of  some 
opposition,  immediately  quelled,  the  decree  of  the 
Convention  was  carried  out.  Collot  d'Herbois  and 
Billaud-Yarennes  left  for  Rochefort,  and  were  sent 
thence  to  Sinnamari.  Two  days  later,  perfect  quiet 
was  restored.  Feeling  convinced  that,  after  this 
success,  public  tranquillity  would  not  again  be  dis- 
turbed for  a  long  time  to  come — a  conviction  that 
shortly  afterwards  unfortunately  proved  to  be  un- 
founded— and  having  nothing  to  detain  me  in  Paris, 
I  began  my  journey  to  Italy  on  the  20th  Germinal, 
year  III.  (April  9,  1795). 

As  the  war  in  which  France  was  then  engaged 
against  Austria  and  the  King  of  Sardinia  precluded 
me  from  travelling  through  Upper  Italy,  I  proceeded 
to  Marseilles,  whence  I  embarked  for  Genoa.  We 
were  obliged  to  put  into  harbour  at  San  Remo, 
and  I  performed  part  of  my  journey  on  horseback, 


74        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

crossing  the  outposts  of  our  army  of  Italy.      This 
army,  which  was  destined  to  accomplish  such  great 
deeds,   was  at   that   time   very   weak.     The  troops 
occupied  difficult  posts  in  the  mountains,  where  they 
were  subjected  to  the  greatest  privations.     But  they 
endured  them  with  the  most  admirable  resignation, 
and  prepared  by  heroic  patience  for  the  glory  that 
was  soon  to  immortalise  them.     I  found  Kellermann 
at   Alassio,  he   had    come  to  take  command   of  the 
place ;  and  also  my  countryman  Berthier,  with  whom 
I  had  been  intimate  from  my  youth  and  who  had 
been    appointed   chief  of  the    Staff.     After   having 
consulted  with  both  as   to    the    means  of  carrying 
on  a  correspondence,  and  on  the  services  which  the 
diplomatic  post  I  was  about  to  occupy  would  enable 
me  to  render  to  the  army,  I  took  my  leave  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Genoa,  whence  I  despatched  a  felucca  to 
Leghorn    with    my    luggage,    and    I    continued  my 
route   on  horseback  by  the  banks  of  the   Levanto. 
At  last,  having  thus  made  my  way  through  Larici, 
Sarzano,  and  Pisa,  where   I   found   my  luggage,  I 
arrived   at  Florence  on   the   1st  Prairial,  year    III. 
(May  28,  1795).     I  had  passed  nearly  six  weeks  on 
the  journey  ;    but  I  had  profiled  by  the  opportunity 
of  visiting  Nimes  and  its  antiquities,  and  the  bridge 
over    the    Gard,    and    L    had    passed    a  few  days  at 
Genoa  and  Pisa,  where  many    objects  worthy  of  a 
traveller's   attention  had    detained  me.      Freed   from 


PUBLIC  FEELING  IN  TUSCANY.  75 


the  terrible  agitation  of  our  political  troubles,  I  took 
a  great  deal  of  pleasure  in  this  journey,  although 
anxiety  as  to  what  was  taking  place  in  Paris,  the 
grievous  reports  that  were  prevalent,  and  the  news, 
true  or  false,  that  reached  me  at  every  moment,  ren- 
dered me  frequently  indifferent  to  the  ever-varying 
spectacle  before  my  eyes.  In  this  respect,  how- 
ever, I  was  but  serving  an  apprenticeship  to  the 
arduous  position  in  which  I  was  about  to  find  myself 
in  a  foreign  land,  amid  a  people  where,  in  consequence 
of  our  excesses,  every  man  was  our  enemy  ;  where  we 
met  with  no  sympathy  in  our  misfortunes,  no  excuse 
for  faults  or  crimes  whose  perpetrators  were  abhorred, 
while  the  victims  were  not  pitied,  and  no  justice  was 
shown  towards  those  who  had  punished  the  guilty. 

Notwithstanding  the  manifestation  of  hostile 
feeling,  which  was  carefully  encouraged  by  the 
French  emigres  residing  at  Pisa  and  Leghorn,  the 
news  of  the  neutrality  re-established  between 
France  and  the  Grand  Duke  had  been  received  with 
universal  satisfaction  in  Tuscany.  Even  the  English, 
although  they  affected  displeasure,  in  reality  regarded 
this  event  with  inward  satisfaction.  It  rendered 
them,  in  a  manner,  masters  of  the  port  of  Leghorn, 
where  by  reason  of  the  neutrality  they  could  land 
without  fear.  English  merchants  felt  they  possessed 
a  guarantee  for  their  property  which  was  denied 
them  in  a  state  of  war,  when  at  any  moment  French 


76        MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


troops  might  enter  Tuscany.  Moreover,  the 
English,  as  masters  of  the  sea  and  possessors  of 
Corsica,  had  nothing  to  fear  from  our  feeble  navy ; 
and  our  privateers,  which  were  almost  the  only 
vessels  that  hoisted  the  national  flag  in  those  seas, 
were  in  greater  danger  than  ever. 

The  English,  in  fact,  blockaded  the  entrance  of 
the  port  with  their  men-of-war,  and  it  was  the  only 
place  of  safety  for  our  privateers ;  even  there  they 
barely  found  means  of  escape  from  enemies  who  had 
the  upper  hand  at  Leghorn,  and  did  not  respect  the 
neutrality  of  a  feeble  prince.  Finally,  the  population 
of  Leghorn,  and  even  its  authorities,  were  entirely 
devoted  to  the  English,  who  felt  certain  beforehand 
of  impunity  for  the  numerous  breaches  of  neutrality 
which  they  committed.  In  everything,  therefore, 
the  advantage  was  on  the  side  of  our  enemies. 

These  inferences  I  drew  from  the  particulars  first 
given  to  me  by  M.  Fre'ville.  He  had  preceded  me 
into  Tuscany  by  some  weeks,  and  had  come  to  meet 
me  at  Pisa.  In  the  end  I  was  fully  convinced  that 
he  had  not  been  mistaken  in  his  estimate  of  the 
situation. 

After  the  first  few  days,  which  were  taken  up  with 
the  delivery  of  my  letters  of  credit,  with  my  pre- 
sentation at  Court,  and  the  duties  imposed  by 
etiquette,  against  which  I  was  careful  not  to  offend, 
in  order  to  show  that  I  was  anxious  to  conform  to 


A  MEMOBANDUM.  77 

the  customs  of  the  country,  I  began  to  investigate 
matters  for  myself. 

During  about  a  month's  stay  at  Florence  and  a 
few  days  at  Leghorn,  the  observations  I  made  were 
sufficient  to  enable  me  to  form  a  tolerably  precise 
opinion,  which  I  communicated  to  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety.  The  events  of  the  3rd  Prairial,  year 
III.,  which  as  I  had  learned  on  the  loth  (May  22, 
1795)  established  the  triumph  of  the  National  Con- 
vention, had  endowed  the  Provisional  Government 
of  France  with  steadiness  and  confidence  it  had  not 
hitherto  possessed,  and  its  heads  felt  the  necessity, 
with  a  view  to  the  execution  of  their  plans,  of 
learning  what  was  the  true  position  of  Italy,  towards 
which  their  eyes  were  turned,  the  principles  of  the 
first  government  with  which  they  had  treated,  and 
the  character  of  those  who  directed  it.  I  took  every 
pains  to  satisfy  curiosity  so  well  founded,  and  the 
following  is  nearly  what  I  wrote  on  the  subject  to 
the  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  20th  Messidor,  year 
III.  (July  8,  1795). 

"  After  the  famous  era  of  the  Florentine  Republic, 
Tuscany  had  been  erected  into  a  Grand  Duchy 
under  the  sceptre  of  the  descendants  of  the  Medicis, 
and  was  scarcely  distinguishable  from  the  other 
secondary  States  of  Italy,  nntil  Peter-Leopold  gave 
her  a  more  important  part  to  play.  Considering  this 
prince  in  his  capacity  as  a  Grand  Duke,  we  cannot  but 


78         MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


recognise  in  him  an  enlightened  ruler.  The  wisdom 
of  his  commercial  regulations,  his  efforts  to  reduce 
the  authority  of  the  nobles,  and  to  restore  to  the 
middle  classes  of  society  the  influence  they  had  lost, 
prepared  a  happier  existence  for  Tuscany  than  she 
had  enjoyed  during  the  reign  of  his  predecessor. 
But  while  for  these  reasons  he  won  the  approba- 
tion of  enlightened  men,  he  was  in  the  highest 
degree  displeasing  to  the  class  whose  privileges  and 
prejudices  he  attacked.  Meanwhile  his  absolute 
authority,  the  unsparing  rigour  with  which  he  used 
it  when  necessary,  and  the  strength  afforded  him 
by  his  great  popularity,  were  sufficient  so  stifle  every 
germ  of  discontent. 

"  The  death  of  Joseph  II.  and  the  French  Revolu- 
tion brought  about  a  new  order  of  things.  Leopold 
reigned  in  Vienna,  and  as  Emperor  seemed  to  forget 
or  to  repudiate  the  principles  he  had  professed  as 
Grand  Duke.  His  accession  to  the  Imperial  throne, 
and  his  death,  which  took  place  very  soon  afterwards, 
caused  the  government  of  Tuscany  to  devolve  on  his 
second  son,  Ferdinand  III.,  then  hardly  more  than 
a  youth,  and  the  pupil  of  the  Marquis  de  Manfredini, 
to  whose  care  his  father  had  confided  him. 

"  The  retrograde  movement  of  the  Emperor  Leopold, 
in  declaring  himself  against  the  French  Revolution, 
became  an  occasion  of  triumph  to  the  class  he  had 
kept  down  in  Tuscany.    His  government  and  his  laws 


A  MEMORANDUM.  70 

were  attacked,  his  memory  was  insulted,  and  a  party 
antagonistic  to  the  system  he  had  established  was 
soon  formed.  The  influence  of  Manfredini  and  the 
inertia  natural  to  a  government  which  was  opposed 
to  all  violent  measures,  had  the  advantage  in  the 
struggle  with  this  party ;  but  eventually,  assisted  by 
the  emigres,  and  by  English  influence,  it  succeeded 
in  pushing  Tuscany  into  the  coalition  against  France, 
an  imprudent  step  which  nearly  caused  her  ruin. 

"  French  victories,  the  counsels  of  Manfredini,  and 
still  more,  perhaps,  the  tendency  to  inaction  natural 
to  the  country,  soon  made  the  danger  of  so  impolitic 
a  rupture  evident.  Peace  was  solicited,  and  France 
acquiesced. 

"But  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that 
this  reconciliation  was  the  result  of  friendly  feeling, 
or  of  any  similarity  of  principle.  All  that  I  have 
said  proves  the  contrary.  Fear  has  done  it  all.  There 
exists  but  one  man  here,  whose  actions  seem  to  be 
dictated  by  wider  views,  by  philosophic  ideas,  and  by 
a  general  philanthropy.     That  man  is  Manfredini. 

"  He  is  attached  to  the  principles  of  Leopold's 
government,  and  although  perhaps  he  is  not  at  one 
with  him  as  to  the  means  of  carrying  them  out,  he 
seems  to  take  a  pride  in  maintaining  his  system.  He 
has  hitherto  retained  great  ascendency  over  the  mind 
of  his  pupil,  and  I  must  do  Ferdinand  III.  the 
justice    to  say  that  he  is  himself  disposed  to  follow 


80        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  M10T  BE  MELITO. 

the  path  traced  out  by  Manfredini.  Meanwhile  the 
opposite  party,  taking  advantage  of  the  youth  and 
inexperience  of  the  Prince,  acquire  fresh  strength 
every  day,  and  while  waiting  until  they  may  venture 
openly  to  attack  Manfredini,  they  seek  stealthily  by 
every  means  to  weaken  his  authority  and  diminish 
the  respect  in  which  he  is  held. 

"  Leopold's  plans  have  already  been  abandoned  in 
many  respects.  The  laws  on  the  freedom  of  trade 
have  been  modified ;  poverty  in  the  country  districts 
and  dearness  of  provisions,  the  result  of  the  re- 
strictions on  trade,  are  already  beginning  to  be  felt. 
There  is  a  project  for  restoring  the  penalty  of  death 
which  was  suppressed  by  the  code  of  1774.  The 
power  of  the  priests,  which  had  been  considerably 
restricted  by  means  of  wise  regulations,  is  again 
springing  up.  The  men  employed  by  Leopold  have 
been  set  aside.  In  a  word,  this  country,  which  has 
latterly  made  such  strides  towards  philosophical 
ideas  and  a  better  government,  and  which  has  even, 
in  that  respect,  outstripped  other  nations,  is  now 
evidently  falling  back,  and  ready  once  more  to  take 
up  the  yoke  of  prejudice,  from  which  the  genius  of 
one  man  had  delivered  it. 

"  Manfredini  is  a  witness  of  these  ill-starred  inno- 
vations, but  he  either  makes  no  effort  to  arrest  them 
or  In'  feels  himself  powerless  to  do  so.  I  am  strongly 
of  opinion  thai  it  is  in  order  to  secure  the  triumph  of 


FERDINAND  AND  MANFBEDINI.  81 


his  opinions  as  regards  neutrality,  that  he  has  thought 
it  well  to  yield  on  other  points.  If  I  am  not  mistaken 
in  this  conjecture,  he  has  committed,  I  apprehend,  a 
great  blunder.  He  should  have  taken  up  his  position 
on  the  basis  of  Leopold's  government,  and  should 
have  deduced  the  maintenance  of  neutrality  as  a 
consequence  from  it.  By  relinquishing  that  basis, 
he  gives  a  great  advantage  to  his  enemies.  He 
will  be  imperceptibly  drawn  into  measures  entirely 
opposed  to  his  own  views,  and  it  will  afterwards 
be  easy  to  overthrow  him,  when  surrounded  only 
by  the  ruins  of  a  government  which  was  the  safe- 
guard of  his  reputation  and  political  existence. 

"  It  is  quite  true  that  Ferdinand  would  be  un- 
willing to  part  with  Manfredini.  The  habit  of  con- 
sulting him  in  everything,  which  public  esteem  has 
justified,  makes  him  necessary  to  the  Prince.  More- 
over Ferdinand,  although  gifted,  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  judge,  with  an  upright  mind,  simple  in 
his  habits,  much  better  brought  up  and  better  in- 
formed than  men  of  his  rank  in  general,  is  perhaps 
more  averse  than  any  one  else  to  the  measures  pressed 
upon  him,  and  of  all  persons  that  one  to  whom  they 
would  be  most  repugnant.  Consequently  he  seems 
to  me  to  be  thought  little  of  by  the  nobles,  and 
though  he  is  one  of  the  most  estimable  men  whom  I 
have  met  with  here,  I  have  not  heard  a  single  word 
in  his  praise.     But  with  all  these  qualities  he  is  young, 

VOL.    I.  G 


82        MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

and  the  fears  that  may  be  instilled  into  him  for  the 
security  of  his  power,  amid  the  events  that  are 
now  disturbing  Europe,  must  react  on  him,  and 
weaken  the  opposition  to  the  proposed  innovations 
to  which  his  education  and  his  natural  character 
would  urge  him. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  it  seems  to  me  equally  im- 
possible that  he  should  entirely  release  himself  from 
the  influence  of  the  Emperor,  and  certainly  the 
Cabinet  of  Vienna  is  not  in  accord  with  Manfredini. 
The  hopes  of  the  latter — he  did  not  conceal  them  from 
me — were  to  bring  back  the  Emperor  to  his  former 
principles,  and  to  make  Tuscany  mediate  for  peace 
between  Austria  and  the  French  Republic.  The 
steps  latterly  taken  at  Vienna,  the  alliance  between 
Russia  and  England,  the  subsidies  granted  by  the 
last-named  Power ;  finally,  the  report  that  has  got 
abroad,  that  the  overtures  of  such  a  negotiation, 
if  there  is  to  be  one,  would  take  place  at  Basel, 
have  wrecked  Manfredini's  hopes,  and  consequently 
lessened  his  influence,  which  such  a  negotiation,  if 
crowned  with  success,  would  have  raised  higher 
than  ever. 

"  I  shall  not  discuss  the  question  whether  France 
should  desire  or  dread  the  realisation  of  Manfredini's 
ideas.  My  immediate  concern  is  with  the  conse- 
quences to  the  Government  of  Tuscany  that  may 
ensue  from  all  these  facts. 


MANFREDINrS  POLICY.  83 

"  It  is  evident  that  the  present  conjuncture  is 
favourable  to  that  numerous  party  who  are  hostile 
to  the  system  of  government  adopted  by  Leopold, 
and  who  will  make  every  effort  to  turn  it  to  their 
own  advantage.  That  party  will  therefore  intrigue 
with  the  object  of  influencing  the  selection  of  a 
Prime  Minister,  whose  functions  comprise  those  of 
the  department  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  whose  place 
may  be  said  to  have  been  vacant  for  a  long  time 
past,  for  Senator  Serristori  who  occupies  it  is  a  mere 
figure-head.  The  post,  however,  must  soon  become 
actually  vacant  through  his  death  or  retirement. 

Manfredini,  having  hitherto  directed  the  action 
of  the  Grovernment,  without  official  title,  has  made 
no  change  in  the  Ministry.  He  has  restricted  him- 
self to  preparing  beforehand  a  man  whom  he  can 
trust  as  a  successor  to  Serristori.  Neri-Corsini,*  at 
present  Secretary  of  State,  is  named  for  that  office. 
He  belongs  to  an  illustrious  family ;  he  is  young,  and 
never  having  left  Italy,  his  experience  and  his  know- 
ledge of  affairs  seem  to  me  limited  to  the  ancient 
ways  of  the  astute  policy  that  has  always  prevailed 
in   the  Cabinets  of  this  country.     Being  connected 

*  Since  then  he  has  been  Councillor  of  State  in  France, 
where  I  found  him  when,  in  1813,  I  resumed  my  place  in  the 
Council  of  State.  He  was,  like  myself,  a  member  of  the  Interior 
Section.  We  little  thought,  in  1795,  at  Florence,  that  we 
should  be  colleagues  eighteen  years  later. 

a  2 


84        MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


with  the  aristocracy,  both  by  family  interests  and  by 
birth,  he  seems  to  me  to  be  widely  divided  from  us 
in  principles ;  but  he  acts  with  dissimulation,  and 
lets  his  real  sentiments  appear  as  little  as  possible. 
Nevertheless  it  is  plain  that  Manfredini  has  but  an 
ungrateful  pupil  in  this  young  man,  one  greatly 
inclined  to  go  over  to  the  side  of  his  enemies  if  their 
party  prevails. 

"  Corsini  is  aware  that  in  such  an  event  he  need 
not  aspire  to  the  post  now  destined  for  him.  He 
feels  that,  strictly  speaking,  he  might  be  able  to  fill 
it  under  the  tutelage  of  Manfredini,  but  that,  left 
to  himself,  he  could  not  sustain  its  weight,  and  that 
his  youth  alone  would  be  a  sufficient  reason  for 
excluding  him.  Such  a  competitor  being  therefore 
by  no  means  formidable,  the  eyes  of  this  political 
party  would  turn,  after  the  overthrow  of  Manfre- 
dini, towards  Signor  Francesco  Serrati,  the  present 
Governor  of  Leghorn,  who,  by  reason  of  his  age,  his 
gravity,  the  importance  of  the  posts  he  has  filled  and 
the  reputation  he  has  acquired,  may  at  any  moment 
be  invested  not  only  with  the  title  but  with  the 
actual  functions  of  Prime  Minister ;  may  succeed  to 
Manfredini  in  the  direction  of  affairs,  and  may 
even  exercise,  though  in  an  opposite  sense,  equal 
influence  in  the  general  administration  of  the 
State." 

Such  was  the  situation  of  the  Tuscan  Government, 


THE  SITUATION  IN  TUSCANY.  85 


and  such  the  view  of  it  that  I  sought  to  impress  upou 
the  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  by  insisting  on  the 
indispensable  necessity  of  serious  attention  to  the 
war  in  Italy,  which  until  then  had  been  almost  dis- 
regarded. It  will  be  seen  hereafter  that  I  was  not 
greatly  mistaken  in  my  judgment,  in  the  results 
I  foretold,  and  in  the  nature  of  the  remedy.  But 
in  the  meantime  I  had  serious  difficulties  to  over- 
come, for  it  is  evident  that  until  we  had  acquired 
the  upper  hand  in  Italy  by  force  of  arms,  we 
should  possess  neither  the  security  of  neutrality  nor 
the  advantages  of  conquest.  Every  prejudice  had 
been  aroused  against  us.  The  nobles,  whose  pri- 
vileges and  influence  were  attacked  by  the  spread 
of  our  doctrines,  bore  us  an  ill-concealed  hatred  ; 
the  people,  excited  by  the  priests,  and  also,  it  must 
be  confessed,  by  the  violent  speeches  and  odious 
calumnies  of  the  emigres,  were  ready,  at  a  word,  to 
rush  into  the  greatest  excesses  against  the  French, 
and  many  of  our  countrymen  have  fallen  victims 
to  their  fury,  on  occasions  when  it  could  be  vented 
with  impunity. 

Amid  the  hostile  feelings  prevailing  among  the 
two  extremes  of  society,  my  arrival  at  Florence 
had  caused  a  sensation  and  excited  malevolent 
curiosity.  The  strangest  rumours  had  preceded  me. 
People  expected  to  see  a  sort  of  savage,  clothed  in 
an   extraordinary  manner,    using  the  coarsest   Ian- 


86        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

guage,  having  no  idea  of  the  rules  of  society,  and 
ready  ostentatiously  to  violate  them.  My  habits, 
my  mode  of  life,  the  deference  to  the  customs  of 
the  country  I  was  scrupulous  to  show,  and  the  care 
with  which  I  respected  even  its  prejudices,  soon  dis- 
pelled these  first  impressions ;  I  was  even  received 
by  the  middle  and  most  cultivated  class  of  its  in- 
habitants, and  by  men  of  letters,  artists  and  men  of 
science,  such  as  Fontana,  Fossombroni,  Fabbroni, 
Galuzzi,  &c,  more  favourably  than  I  had  ventured  to 
expect.  I  must,  however,  except  Alfieri,  who  was 
then  in  Tuscany,  where  he  lived  on  terms  of  great 
intimacy  with  Madame  d'Albany.*  It  is  well 
known  that  this  remarkable  genius — one  of  the  most 
illustrious  writers  of  Italy,  who  displayed  in  his 
work  on  Tyranny  an  ardent  hatred  of  despotism, 
and  was  one  of  the  warmest  apologists  of  the  French 
Revolution — taking  offence  at  the  severity  of  the 
decrees  of  the  Constituent  Assembly  which  attacked 
Madame  d' Albany's  property,  and  disgusted  probably 
by  the  excesses  which  subsequently  dishonoured  the 
cause  of  liberty,  had  entirely  changed  his  opinions. 
Ho  bitterly  hated  the  whole  French  nation  and  had 

*  Mailamo  d'Albany  was  the  widow  of  one  of  tho  last  descen- 
dants of  the  Stuarts.  Of  that  House,  so  celebrated  for  its 
misfortunes,  thcro  now  remained  only  the  Cardinal  of  York, 
whom  I  met  at  Home.  On  his  death,  the  Stuart  family  became 
completely  extinct. 


ALFIERI.  87 


expressed  his  enmity  in  most  insulting  verse.  I 
should  have  liked  to  have  made  the  acquaintance  of 
a  man  of  such  remarkable  talent,  in  the  hope  of 
gradually  overcoming  an  enmity  which  passed  the 
bounds  of  reason  and  justice ;  but  he  was  too  in- 
flexible to  yield,  and  after  some  overtures,  which  he 
rejected,  I  abstained  with  regret  from  any  further 
effort. 

Meanwhile,  although  my  conduct  and  my  domestic 
life  had,  on  becoming  known,  removed  the  popular 
prejudice  against  me,  political  opinion  had  not 
altered,  and  in  proportion  as  I  progressed  in  the 
management  of  affairs,  it  became  more  and  more 
adverse.  Leghorn  was  almost  daily  the  scene  of 
contests  between  the  emigres  and  the  little  band  of 
Republicans  whom  trade  or  privateering  brought  to 
the  town.  Some  Frenchmen,  taken  prisoners  by  the 
English,*  who  had  carried  them  to  Leghorn,  were 
insulted  and  wounded  during  an  altercation  which 
arose  between  them  and  the  emigres.  The  populace, 
being  friendly  to  the  English,  encouraged  these  acts 
of  violence,  and  the  Tuscan  Government,  fearing  to 
compromise  itself,  had  acted  towards  the  guilty 
persons  with  reprehensible  supineness.  My  first 
care,  therefore,  was  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  these 
deplorable  quarrels,  by  demanding  the  expulsion  of 

*  These  prisoners  were  part  of  the  crew  of  the  inen-of-war 
the  Qa-ira  and  the  Censeur. 


88        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

those  who,  regardless  of  the  tranquillity  of  the 
country  which  had  given  them  hospitality,  were 
continually  bringing  it  into  difficulties,  and  at  the 
same  time  were  wanting  in  every  sentiment  of 
generosity  towards  the  brave  soldiers  whose  mis- 
fortunes should  have  excited  the  sympathy  of  their 
countrymen.  Their  banishment,  on  which  I  insisted, 
was  in  the  interest  of  the  Grand  Duke  and  of  the 
emigres  themselves.  The  latter  would  have  found 
a  more  peaceful  retreat  in  other  parts  of  Tuscany, 
and  the  Government,  by  appointing  the  interior  of 
the  country  for  their  residence,  would  have  avoided 
a  continual  subject  of  complaints  and  recriminations, 
which  constantly  compromised  it  with  France,  and 
in  the  end  brought  down  the  arms  of  the  Republic 
on  Leghorn. 

The  most  evident  self-interest  counselled  them 
to  follow  so  reasonable  a  course,  and  yet  Ferdi- 
nand's Ministers  would  not  adopt  it.  Our  armies, 
detained  in  the  Riviera  of  Genoa,  had  not  yet  entered 
Italy.  Not  being  worked  on  by  fear,  the  Ministry 
stuck  to  the  tortuous  and  evasive  policy,  generally 
adopted  by  Italian  cabinets.  They  made  promises  only 
to  break  them ;  they  replied  to  complaints  by  other 
complaints  ;  accusations  were  met  with  rival  accusa- 
tions;  they  extended  impunity  to  those  who  were 
guilty  <>f  llie  excesses  I  had  denounced,  while  they 
demanded  the  punishment  of  a  few  Frenchmen  ac- 


THE  GOVERNOR   OF  LEGHORN.  89 


cused  by  the  Tuscan  Government.  I  went  myself 
to  Leghorn  to  ascertain  the  real  state  of  things,  so 
as  to  be  on  my  guard  against  the  exaggerated  re- 
ports brought  to  me,  but  my  journey  was  almost  in 
vain.  The  only  thing  of  which  I  convinced  myself 
was  that  Signor  Serrati,  Governor  of  Leghorn,  was 
an  open  enemy  of  France.  In  the  very  warm  dis- 
cussions which  I  had  with  him  relative  to  the  affair 
of  the  French  prisoners  to  which  I  have  previously 
alluded,  his  partiality  for  our  enemies  was  discernible 
through  his  affected  assurances  of  sincere  respect 
for  neutrality.  He  was  opposed  to  all  the  measures 
that  I  had  proposed,  and  I  returned  to  Florence  con- 
vinced that  we  should  not  obtain  any  satisfaction,  so 
long  as  my  demands  were  not  sustained  by  dread  of 
our  arms.  But  the  time  was  approaching  when  the 
irresistible  strength  of  victory  was  to  display  itself, 
and  the  Tuscan  Government  to  perceive  too  late 
that  its  ill-disguised  partiality  had  aroused  so  much 
resentment,  that  it  could  no  longer  hope  to  save  itself 
from  the  torrent  which  was  about  to  be  let  loose  on 
Italy. 

The  events  of  the  13th  Yende'miaire,  year  IV. 
(October  5,  1795),  had  placed  on  the  political  stage 
a  man  who  was  to  fill  the  whole  of  Europe  with  his 
name  in  less  than  three  years.  Buonaparte,  who 
was  called  to  the  defence  of  the  National  Convention 
against  the  combined  sections  which  menaced  it,  had 


90        MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


triumphed  easily  over  the  brave  but  undisciplined 
crowd  led  by  its  ignorant  chiefs.  The  importance 
rather  than  the  merit  of  his  success  had  drawn 
public  attention  to  him ;  and  when  the  constitution 
of  year  III.  placed  a  Directory  composed  of  five 
members  at  the  head  of  the  Government,  Barras,  one 
of  the  five,  who  had  put  forward  the  young  General 
during  the  days  of  Vende'miaire,  either  through 
gratitude  or  because  he  recognised  his  genius, 
occupied  himself  with  his  fortunes,  arranged  a 
marriage  between  him  and  Madame  de  Beauharnais, 
and,  six  months  later,  gave  him  the  command  of  the 
army  of  Italy. 

This  post  was  not  a  popular  one.  The  army  of 
Italy,  the  smallest  of  all  those  we  had  in  action, 
was  least  fit  for  action.*  Scherez — one  of  the 
most  incapable  of  French  generals — who  succeeded 
Kellermann,  had  been  attacked  and  beaten  by  the 
Austrian  General  De  Tins.  Obliged  to  evacuate 
Yado,f  his  communications  with  Genoa  were  cut 
off,  and  when  by  some  subsequent  successes  he  re- 
gained the  line,  he  did  not  know  how  to  profit  by 
it  to  penetrate  into  the  plain,  but  remained  in 
complete  inaction.  The  French,  hemmed  in  between 
the  coast  and  the  mountains,  unable  to  get  supplies 

*  At  the  end  of  year  III.,  and  the  beginning  of  year  IV.  (six 
last  months  of  1705). 

f  In  the  month  of  Meseidor,  year  III.  (July  17'J.">). 


BUONAPARTE.  91 


except  by  sea — an  uncertain  and  often  a  dangerous 
method — could  scarcely  hold  their  difficult  position, 
by  dint  of  valour  and  endurance,  against  the  attacks 
of  an  enemy  now  elated  by  success.  Already 
people  imagined  us  driven  hopelessly  from  the 
frontier  of  Italy,  which  we  had  not  dared  to  pass, 
and  fancied  the  Austrians  on  the  point  of  invading 
our  Southern  Departments.  The  inimical  G-overn- 
ments  of  Rome  and  Naples,  emboldened  by  our 
reverses  at  Yado,  took  an  active  part  in  the  war,  and 
furnished  both  men  and  money  to  our  enemy. 
Venice  and  Genoa,  who  had  remained  neutral,  were 
vacillating,  and  sought  to  obtain  pardon  for  not 
having  joined  the  coalition,  by  using  their  neutrality 
in  the  service  of  Austria.  Even  Tuscany,  which 
had  just  entered  into  a  treaty  with  us,  assumed  an 
air  of  patronage,  disdainfully  deferred  her  replies  to 
our  just  complaints,  and  appointed  Signor  Serrati  as 
her  Prime  Minister,  replacing  him  at  Leghorn  by 
Signor  Spanocchi,  formerly  a  naval  captain  in  the 
service  of  Naples,  regardless  of  the  annoyance  which 
appointments  so  disagreeable  to  us  and  so  unfavour- 
to  our  interests  must  necessarily  produce. 

It  was  with  an  army  apparently  so  little  to  be 
feared,  it  was  with  means  so  limited,  and  in  presence 
of  difficulties  so  great,  that  Buonaparte  had  to  act. 
But  he  felt  his  own  strength,  his  genius  had  already 
suggested   a    plan   different    from    all    those  of  the 


92        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

commanders  who  had  preceded  him,  and  nothing 
was  ever  more  admirable  than  the  conception  of 
that  plan,  unless  indeed  the  astonishing  rapidity 
with  which  he  put  it  into  execution. 

Meanwhile  the  Executive  Directory,  which  had 
sent  me  fresh  letters  of  credit,  signalised  its  accession 
to  the  Government  of  the  Eepublic  by  energetic 
measures.  It  made  known  to  me  its  intention  of 
giving  a  fresh  impulse  to  the  war  in  Italy,  and 
ordered  me  to  support  the  generals  of  the  army  by 
every  means  in  my  power,  and  to  assume  a  firm  and 
threatening  attitude  towards  the  Government  to 
which  I  was  accredited.  The  Directory  had  dis- 
missed M.  Carletti,  the  Grand  Duke's  Minister,  from 
Paris,  because  he  had  asked  permission  to  visit  the 
daughter  of  Louis  XVI.  The  young  Princess  was 
on  the  point  of  leaving  Paris  for  Vienna,  and  was  to 
be  exchanged  at  the  frontier  for  the  former  Com- 
missioners of  the  Convention,  General  Beurnonville, 
who  had  been  arrested  by  Dumouriez  in  April  1793, 
and  MM.  de  Semonville  and  Maret,  who  were  made 
prisoners  by  Austria  during  the  same  year,  while 
passing  through  Switzerland  on  their  way  to  Con- 
stantinople as  diplomatic  agents  of  the  Republic. 
The  Grand  Duke,  alarmed  by  so  decisive  a  proceed- 
ing, put  up  with  it  without  venturing  to  complain, 
although  deeply  aggrieved  ;  and  Carletti,  censured  by 

*  The  leih  Frimaire,  year  IV.  (December  1,  17i>5.) 


NERI-CORSINI.  93 


his  own  Court  for  his  imprudence,  was  succeeded  at 
Paris  by  Neri-Corsini.*  Without  in  reality  approv- 
ing the  conduct  of  the  Directory,  who  in  this  affair 
appeared  to  me  to  offend  against  all  diplomatic 
custom,  and  to  punish  with  uncalled-for  severity  a 
merely  formal  request  which  they  might  simply  have 
refused,  I  could  not  but  perceive  that  its  stern  action 
had  inspired  a  salutary  fear.  If  it  did  not  make 
us  loved — an  impossibility,  no  matter  what  we  did 
— at  least  it  made  us  feared,  and  to  some  extent 
facilitated  my  dealings  with  the  Tuscan  Government. 
I  took  advantage  of  this  state  of  feeling  to  obtain 
from  the  Government  the  refusal  of  free  passage 
through  Tuscan  territory  to  the  regiments  sent  by 
the  Court  of  Naples  to  the  Austrian  army.  During 
this  negotiation,  in  which  I  was  opposed  by  family 
interests,!  I  was  ably  seconded  by  M.  Manfredini, 
who  strongly  urged  the  strict  observance  of 
neutrality.  Of  this  they  made  a  crime  at  Vienna, 
whither  a  copy  had  been  sent  of  a  letter  I  had 
written  on  the  subject  to  Charles  Lacroix,  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  containing  an  account  of  con- 
versations between  myself  and  Manfredini,  in  which 
the   neutrality  question   had  been   discussed.     This 

*  The  new  Minister  arrived  in  Paris  on  the  15th  Nivose, 
year  IV.  (January  5,  1796).  Carletti  had  already  left,  and 
reached  Basel  on  the  7th  Nivose  (December  28,  1795). 

f  The  Grand  Duchess  was  a  daughter  of  the  Queen  of  Naples. 


94        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

copy,  stolen  from  the  bureaux  of  the  Ministry  in 
Paris  by  some  treacherous  person  who  was  probably 
bribed,  was  used,  as  an  act  of  accusation,  against 
Manfredini,  and  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Vienna  to 
clear  himself.* 

The  fears  by  which  from  time  to  time  the  Tuscan 
Government  was  swayed,  were  in  themselves  proof 
of  its  weakness.  I  in  vain  expected  from  it  the 
firmness  necessary  to  bring  to  an  end  the  outrages 
of  which  Leghorn  was  so  often  the  scene.  Acts  of 
violence  against  the  French,  incited  in  turns  by 
the  emigres,  the  Neapolitans  or  the  English,  were 
constantly  committed,  and  provoked  the  bitterest 
resentment,  skilfully  augmented  by  men  who  coveted 
her  wealth,  against  the  town.  They  ultimately 
succeeded  in  ruining  Leghorn. 

The  war  in  Italy  was  assuming  a  formidable 
aspect.  Buonaparte  had  arrived  at  Nice  at  the 
beginning  of  Germinal,  year  IV.  (April  170G).  I 
received  a  first  letter  from  him,  in  which  he  an- 
nounced that  he  was  about  to  put  the  army  in 
motion.  At  the  same  time  he  asked  me  to  give 
him  any  information  I  could  about  the  state  of  Italy. 
I  saw  at  once  by  his  style,  which  was  concise  and 
animated,  although  careless  and  incorrect,  that   lie 

*  This  took  place  in  April  179f).  lie  came  back  in  May, 
ami  In-  assured  \nc  himself  that  ho  had  seen  the  copy  of  the 
letter  of  which  T  speak. 


SPLENDID   TRIUMPHS   OF   THE  ARMY.  95 


was  no  ordinary  man.  I  was  struck  with  a  breadth 
and  depth  of  view  on  military  and  political  subjects, 
such  as  I  had  not  found  in  any  correspondence  which 
I  had  held  up  to  that  time  with  the  generals  of  our 
army  of  Italy.  I  predicted,  therefore,  either  great 
success  or  great  reverses.  My  uncertainty  did  not 
last  long.  The  campaign  was  opened,  and  a  series 
of  victories  as  dazzling  as  they  were  unexpected, 
succeeding  each  other  with  surprising  quickness, 
raised  the  glory  of  our  French  soldiers,  and  that  of 
the  great  captain  who  led  them  daily  to  fresh 
triumphs,  to  the  highest. 

It  does  not  enter  into  the  scope  of  this  work  to 
relate  in  detail  the  military  events  of  that  memor- 
able campaign.  The  battles  of  Montenotte,  of  Mil- 
lesimo,  of  Mondovi ;  the  engagements  at  Dego  and 
at  St.  Jean  ;  the  passage  of  the  bridge  of  Lodi,  are 
among  the  great  facts  of  history  ;  and  their  names,  re- 
calling so  much  valour,  such  deeds  of  daring,  such 
a  display  of  talent,  genius  so  audacious  in  design, 
so  fertile  in  resource,  have  become  immortal.  The 
news  reached  to  the  centre  of  Italy,  and  the  bulle- 
tins giving  descriptions  of  these  wonderful  deeds  of 
our  troops,  at  first  contradicted,  produced  sheer 
bewilderment,  when  the  force  of  truth  convinced 
the  most  incredulous.  Nothing  was  then  thought 
of  but  how  the  torrent  of  war  was  to  be  turned 
away  from  regions  it  had  not  yet  reached. 


96        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


The    victories     of    the    French,    the    armistices 
concluded    with    the    King   of    Sardinia,    and    the 
Dukes  of  Modena  and  Parma,  and  the  occupation 
of  the  country  round   Milan,  had  disconcerted  the 
policy   of   Upper   Italy.      I   received   more    atten- 
tion  from   the   Cabinet   of  Florence  than  had   yet 
been   shown   me.      Notwithstanding    Neri-Corsini's 
efforts   to   oppose   it   in  Paris,  notwithstanding  his 
complaints   of  what   he    called    my   haughtiness,    a 
proclamation    was   issued,    ordering   the   emigres   to 
leave  Leghorn,  and  this  measure,  which  in  reality 
did   them    a   service,  was  carried  out  with  all    the 
consideration  demanded  by  humanity  and  with  the 
respect    due    to    misfortune.      Rome    and    Naples, 
especially  the  former  of  those  two  Powers,  which  was 
more  exposed  to   immediate    attack    from    the    con- 
queror, began  to  take  steps  to  obtain   peace,  or  at 
least  a  suspension  of  hostilities.      Prince  Belmonte- 
Pignatelli,  ambassador  from  Naples  to  the  King  of 
Spain,  came  to  Florence  with  instructions  from  his 
Court  to  make  the  first  advances  to  me.    Count  Man- 
fredini  introduced  him,  and  begged  me  to  second  the 
steps  he  proposed  to  take  with  respect  to  the  General 
Commander-in-Chief  of    the  French   army.     As  an 
armistice  with  Naples,  of  which  one  condition  would 
be  to  close  the  ports  of  that  kingdom  against  the 
English,  and   to  withdraw  the   Neapolitan  cavalry 
regiments   from  the  Austrian  army,   seemed  to   me 


BUONAPARTE  AND   ITALY.  97 

advantageous  both  in  a  political  and  military  point 
of  view,  I  readily  undertook  to  second  the  proposals 
of  Prince  Pignatelli,  and  I  even  promised  to  go 
myself  to  Buonaparte's  headquarters  to  open  the 
negotiation. 

Apart  from  this  motive,  which  was  in  itself 
sufficient  to  make  me  undertake  the  journey,  I  was 
resolved  upon  it  for  other  reasons.  It  was  im- 
portant for  me,  with  a  view  to  the  ordering  of  my 
future  conduct,  to  know  what  political  bent  a  general 
who  had  already  assumed  an  almost  independent  au- 
thority, and  was  inclined  rather  to  dictate  orders  to 
the  Directory  than  to  receive  them,  intended  to  give 
to  our  dealings  with  the  various  Powers  of  Italy. 
Did  he  intend  to  transform  the  conquered  States 
into  a  Republic,  as  he  was  urged  to  do  by  all  the 
numerous  vehement  Republicans  who  were  begin- 
ning to  make  their  voices  heard  throughout  the 
country  ?  Did  he,  by  leaving  these  countries  under 
their  former  modes  of  government,  mean  only  to 
keep  them  dependent  on  France  ?  What  were  his 
designs  respecting  Rome  and  the  Pope  ?  Would  he 
recognise  the  latter  under  the  twofold  aspect  of  a 
temporal  and  spiritual  power  ? 

In  the  views  of  the  advantages  to  be  reaped  from 
our  victories  in  Italy,  and  of  the  use  we  should 
make  of  the  preponderance  they  gave  us  in  that 
country,  which   I  had  submitted    to   the    Directory, 

VOL.    I.  H 


98 


MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  3II0T  DE  MELITO. 


I  had  particularly  insisted  on  two  results  which  I 
looked  upon  as  the  real  fruit  of  our  conquests : 
the  complete  destruction  of  the  power  of  Austria  in 
Italy,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Papal  Government. 
I  was  firmly  convinced  that  emancipated  France 
had  no  more  formidable  and  implacable  enemy  than 
that  Power ;  it  was  therefore  indispensable  that  I 
should  be  in  harmony  with  a  conqueror  who,  after 
subjugating  Italy  by  force  of  arms,  was  not  the 
man  to  neglect  its  political  administration. 

I  was  quite  sure  he  would  agree  with  me  as  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  House  of  Austria  from  all  power 
and  even  from  all  property  in  Italy  ;  but  I  was  not 
so  certain  of  his  views  on  the  other  question. 


I     99     ) 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Author's  interview  with  General  Buonaparte — Conclusion 
of  the  armistice  between  the  General  and  Prince  Pignatelli, 
Plenipotentiary  at  Naples — The  Author  returns  to  Florence 
— He   goes   away   again   to   visit   General    Buonaparte    at 
Bologna — His   interview  with  him — The  Author  does   not 
succeed  in  preventing  the   violation   of  the   neutrality   of 
Tuscany  and  the  occupation  of  Leghorn  by  the  French — In 
returning    from    Leghorn,    General    Buonaparte    stops    at 
Florence,  visits  the  Grand  Duke  and  dines  with   him — A 
treaty  being  concluded  between  the  Pope  and  the  French 
Eepublic,  the  Author  goes  to  Koine  to  secure  the  fulfilment  of 
its  conditions — The  gloomy  fanaticism  reigning  in  Rome — 
Some  discontented  Italians  having  claimed  the  intervention 
of  the  French    for  the  purpose  of  introducing   Republican 
Institutions  in  Itaty,  the  Author,  instructed  by  the  Directory 
to  inform  them  of  his  views,  strongly  opposes  the  project — 
Being  superseded  by  Cacault  in  the  duty  of  superintending 
the  fulfilment  of  the  terms  of  the  armistice  at  Pome,  the 
Author    returns    to    Florence — Rumours    of    the    reverses 
experienced   by  Buonaparte    produce    great   excitement    in 
Italy — The  Governments  no  longer  conceal  their  tendencies, 
and  the  Author  sends  M.  Freville  to  Paris  to  point  out  to  the 
Directory   the   necessity   of    excluding    Austria    from    all 
influence  in  Italy,  and  of  destroying  the  Papal  Government 
— The  Author  is  appointed  Ambassador  at  Turin,  but  before 
entering  upon  the  exercise  of  his  functions,  he  has  to  under- 

H    2 


100      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

take  a  mission  to  Corsica  as  Commissioner-Extraordinary  of 
the  Government — Sketch  of  the  State  of  Tuscany,  the  con- 
ditions of  life,  and  customs  of  the  Florentines. 

After  having  confided  the  guidance  of  affairs  during 
my  absence  to  M.  Fre'ville,  I  began  my  journey 
on  the  3rd  Prairial  (May  22,  1796).  I  went  by 
Prato  and  Pistoja,  and  crossing  the  Apennines  by 
the  magnificent  road  made  by  Leopold's  orders 
a  few  years  before,  I  reached  Rubiera,  and  from 
thence  Reggio,  without  having  touched  Pontifical 
territory.  This  I  thought  prudent,  on  ac- 
count of  the  hostility  which  still  existed  between 
France  and  the  Pope.  It  was  with  a  view  to 
placing  his  States  in  a  direct  line  of  communica- 
tion with  the  other  possessions  of  the  House  of 
Austria  in  Italy  that  the  Grrand  Duke  had  ordered 
this    road,    which    terminated    at    Rubiera,    to    be 

made. 

From  Reggio  I  went  by  Parma  and  Placenza  to 
Milan.  The  armistices  recently  concluded  with  the 
Dukes  of  Modena  and  Parma  opened  a  free  passage 
to  the  French  through  their  territories,  and  the 
neighbourhood  of  our  triumphant  armies  held  the 
population  in  check.  But,  in  spite  of  the  terror  and 
astonishment  produced  by  our  victories,  the  aver- 
sion of  the  inhabitants  was  visible  on  every  occasion. 
Revolts  had  broken  out,  and  I  was  detained  one 
whole  day  at  Placenza  by  a  riot  at  Binasco,  a  large 


>       » 


1 


SALICETTI.  101 


town  between  Milan  and  Pavia.  This  revolt,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  the  latter  city  shut  its  gates  and 
imprisoned  the  French  garrison,  assumed  a  serious 
aspect,  and  was  only  suppressed  by  sanguinary  mili- 
tary executions.  As  the  roads  were  very  unsafe,  in 
consequence  of  these  disturbances,  I  did  not  cross 
the  Po  until  tranquillity  was  re-established  on  both 
sides  of  the  river. 

I  reached  Milan  on  the  6th  Prairial  (May  26, 
1796),  but  found  that  General  Buonaparte  was  not 
there.  Having  retraced  his  steps  with  his  ordinary 
rapidity,  punished  the  rioters  and  reduced  Pavia  to 
submission,  he  had  proceeded  to  besiege  Mantua, 
the  only  stronghold  in  all  Lombardy  which,  with 
the  fortress  of  Milan,  still  remained  in  the  power 
of  the  Austrians.  I  was  therefore  obliged  to  go  to 
headquarters  to  find  him.  I  remained,  however, 
several  days  at  Milan,  and  there  saw  Salicetti,  the 
Commissioner  of  the  Executive  Directory,  with 
whom  I  had  no  previous  acquaintance.  Judging 
from  the  reputation  he  had  acquired  in  the  Conven- 
tion, and  which  had  preceded  him  into  Italy,  I 
expected  a  cold  reception,  and  was  not  a  little 
surprised  to  meet  a  man  of  the  greatest  politeness 
and  urbanity  of  demeanour,  and  who  received  me 
with  the  utmost  courtesy.  Salicetti,  of  whom  I 
shall  have  to  give  a  detailed  account  further  on 
in  these   Memoirs,  and  of  whom  I  shall  sav  no  more 


102      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

here  than  that  he  possessed  great  ability,  recognised 
the  necessity  of  conforming  in  manner  and  style  of 
conversation  to  the  fashion  of  the  country  in  which 
he  now  lived.  In  this,  at  first  sight,  he  appeared  to 
have  perfectly  succeeded  ;*  but  in  the  course  of  our 
frequent  interviews  I  found  we  were  not  at  one  as  to 
the  political  course  to  be  pursued  in  Italy.  I  insisted 
especially  that  the  neutrality  of  Tuscany  must  be 
respected.  While  admitting  the  justice  of  our  com- 
plaints against  its  Governmeut,  I  maintained  that  it 
would  be  worthy  of  the  generosity  of  France  to 
pardon  its  errors,  and  of  her  justice  to  observe 
the  confidence  manifested  by  the  Grand  Duke  by 
his  treating  with  us,  and  being  the  first  to 
set  the  example  of  the  re-establishment  of  political 
relations  between  the  Republic  and  the  Continental 
Powers.  But  I  soon  saw  that  the  Commissioner  of 
the  Directory  had  other  views,  and  differed  with 
me  from  another  motive  than  that  of  avenging 
the  injuries  which  the  French  had  sustained  at 
Leghorn.  It  was  the  wealth  of  that  city  which 
tempted  his  cupidity.  Its  riches  were  all  regarded 
as    English    property ;    and,    under    that    pretext, 

lie  had,  however,  exercised  some  severity  in  driving  from 

Milan  certain  distinguished  citizens  whose  influence  lie  feared. 
^.mong  the  nuinhcrwas  Signor  de  Melzi,  who  afterwards  played 
a  great  pari  in  the  annals  of  his  country.  Ho  went  to  Florence, 
Where  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  him,  and  a  friendship  sprung  up 
l>el\veen  US  which  lasted  until  his  death. 


BRESCIA.  103 


should  we  become  masters  of  Leghorn,  everything 
would  fall  into  our  hands.  The  imagination  of 
man  had  never  conceived  a  more  splendid  prize. 
Part  of  the  booty,  no  doubt,  would  have  to  go  to  the 
State,  but  a  great  deal  would  remain  in  the  hands 
of  those  charged  with  its  distribution.  From  the 
moment  that  I  recognised  his  real  end  I  despaired 
of  the  success  of  my  own  views,  and  saw  that  the 
only  chance  of  prevailing  was  my  having  better 
luck  with  the  Commander-in-Chief. 

I  left  Milan  on  the  15th  Prairial  (June  3),  and 
directed  my  steps  towards  headquarters;  but  on 
reaching  Brescia  I  learned  that  Buonaparte  was 
expected  there  from  day  to  day.  I  therefore  re- 
mained at  Brescia,  where  1  found  Prince  Belmonte- 
Pignatelli,  who  had  arrived  there  before  me. 

On  the  17th  Prairial,  Buonaparte  came  to  Brescia 
from  Verona.  He  had  entered  the  latter  city  on 
the  15th,  after  having  forced  the  remainder  of  the 
Austrian  army,  commanded  by  Beaulieu,  to  recross 
the  Adige  and  to  retire  upon  Trente  by  the  valley 
watered  by  that  river.  He  was  on  his  way  back  to 
Milan,  and  I  was  with  him  a  few  moments  after  he 
dismounted.  I  was  quite  astonished  at  his  appearance. 
Nothing  could  be  more  unlike  the  idea  my  imagination 
had  formed  of  him.  In  the  midst  of  a  numerous 
staff,  I  saw  a  man  below  the  middle  height,  and  of 
an  extremely  spare  figure.     His  powered  hair,  oddly 


104      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  M10T  BE  MEL  I  TO. 

cut  and  falling    squarely    below  the  ears,  reached 
down  to  his  shoulders.     He  was  dressed  in  a  straight 
coat,  buttoned  up  to  the  chin,  and  edged  with  very 
narrow  gold  embroidery,  and  he  wore  a  tri-colored 
feather  in  his  hat.    At  first  sight  he  did  not  strike  me 
as  handsome ;  but  his  strongly-marked  features,  his 
quick  and  piercing  eyes,  his  brusque  and  animated 
gestures  revealed   an  ardent  spirit,  while   his    wide 
and  thoughtful  brow  was  that  of  a  profound  thinker. 
He  made  me  sit  near  him,  arid  we  talked  of  Italy. 
He  spoke  in  short  sentences  and,  at  that  time  of  his 
life,  very  incorrectly.     He  said  that  nothing  would 
be  really  done  until  we  were  in  possession  of  Mantua  ; 
that  then  only  could  we  consider  ourselves  masters 
of  Italy  ;  that  so  difficult  a  siege  must  necessarily 
last  long ;  that  we  had  not  the  means  even  of  com- 
mencing it,  and   that  for  the  moment  we  must  be 
content   with  surrounding  the  place;  that  it  could 
not  be  doubted  but  that  Austria  would  put  another 
army    on   foot  in    order  to  succour  so  important  a 
stronghold,  but  that  she  required  time   in  which  to 
assemble  an  army ;   so  that  we  had  consequently  a 
month  before  us,  which  he   intended  to  employ   in 
advancing  towards  the  centre  of  Italy,  making  him- 
self master  there,  and  securing  tranquillity  on  that 
side    when    the   war    in   Upper  Italy  should    recom- 
mence.    His   discourse    naturally    led    me    to    men- 
tion the  overtures  that   Prince  Belmonte-Pignatelli 


THE  ARMISTICE.  105 


had    made   to    me   at    Florence ;    I    informed    him 
of    the    Prince's   presence   at   Brescia,   and   of   my 
desire  to  present  Pignatelli   to   him.     He  said  that 
this  was  good  news,   and  that  he,  like  me,  saw  no 
objection  to  treating  for  an  armistice.*     I  proposed 
that  he  should  stipulate  as  one  of  its  conditions   that 
the  ports  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples  should  be  closed 
to  the  English,     "  Ah  !  that  is  the  policy  of  the  di- 
plomatist," he  answered  abruptly.     "  What  we  must 
stipulate   for  just  now  is  that   Naples  shall    imme- 
diately   withdraw    her    troops    from    the    Austrian 
army.       The    infantry   is    worthless ;     but  you   are 
aware  that  they  have    four  excellent  regiments  of 
cavalry  which  have   already  given  me  a  great  deal 
of  trouble.      I   should   like  to  get  rid  of  these   as 
speedily  as  possible.     Send  M.  de  Belmonte  to  me  ; 
the  treaty  shall  soon  be  made."     And,  in   fact,  the 
treaty  was  drawn  up,  and  signed  in  the  course  of 
that    day — in    less   than    two    hours.     I    managed, 
however,  to  have  a  clause  inserted  by  which  it  was 
stipulated   that   the    Neapolitan   vessels   should   se- 
parate at  the  earliest  opportunity  from  the  English 
squadron. f 

*  He  used  the  word  amnesty  for  armistice  throughout  the 
whole  conversation. 

f  This  armistice,  called  simply  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  is  dated 
from  Brescia,  June  5  (19th  Prairial,  year  IV.),  and  signed 
Buonaparte  and  Belmonte-Fignatelli.  It  contains  five  articles 
only,  of  which  the  fourth  relates  to  the  Neapolitan  vessels. 


106     MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

This  affair  concluded,  I  began  to  discuss  the 
general  policy  of  Italy  with  Buonaparte.  I  saw 
that  lie  was  ill-disposed  towards  Tuscany  and  already 
contemplated  the  occupation  of  Leghorn.  I  tried  to 
discuss  that  point,  but  as  he  was  in  haste,  I  saw 
clearly  that  he  would  not  listen  ;  T  therefore  con- 
fined myself  to  giving  him  a  memorandum  drawn 
up  at  Milan,  in  which  I  had  exhaustively  treated 
the  question,  which  I  could  not  argue  with  him 
verbally.  I  told  him  that  I  had  left  a  copy  in 
Salicetti's  hands,  although  I  perceived  that  the  re- 
puted wealth  of  Leghorn  tempted  him  towards  so 
profitable  a  conquest.  "  The  Commissioners  of  the 
Directory,"  he  answered  impatiently,  "  count  for 
nothing  in  my  policy.  Let  them  busy  themselves, 
and  welcome,  with  the  administration  of  the  public 
revenues,  for  the  moment  at  least,  the  rest  does  not 
concern  them.  I  do  not  expect  they  will  long  retain 
their  posts,  nor  will  the  Directory  send  me  others  in 
their  room.  On  the  other  hand,  Citizen  Miot,  I  will 
read  your  Memorandum,  and  I  liope  you  will  meet 
me  at  Bologna,  where  I  shall  be,  no  matter  what  are 

;  This  Memorandum  turned  on  tlio  points  before  indicated: 
I  he  expulsion  of  the  Austrian  power  from  Italy,  and  the 
annihilation  of  the  Papal  (iovenmient.  I  also  endeavoured  to 
show  thai  i  be  dignity  of  France,  as  well  as  her  manifest  interest, 
demanded  that  she  should  refrain  from  a  violation  of  the 
Hi  hi rality  of  Tuscany. 


VENICE.  107 


my  future  plans,  in  a  fortnight's  time.  I  shall  send  a 
courier  to  inform  you  of  my  arrival.     Adieu." 

The  horses  were  harnessed.  He  crossed  the  rooms 
adjoining  that  in  which  he  had  received  me,  and 
gave  some  orders  to  Murat,  Lannes  and  Junot,  his 
aides-de-camp,  and  the  other  officers  in  attendance. 
Every  one  maintained  towards  him  an  attitude  of 
respect,  and  I  may  even  say  of  admiration.  I  saw 
none  of  those  marks  of  familiarity  between  him  and 
his  companions  that  I  had  observed  in  other  cases, 
and  which  was  consonant  with  republican  equality. 
He  had  already  assumed  his  own  place,  and  kept 
others  at  a  distance. 

I  saw  him  off,  and  then  returned  to  my  hotel, 
greatly  struck  and  in  some  sort  bewildered  by  what 
had  just  taken  place.  I  immediately  occupied  myself 
with  committing  the  particulars  of  this  interview  to 
paper,  and  I  then  took  leave  of  Prince  de  Belmonte, 
who  was  returning  to  Naples  by  way  of  Milan, 
much  surprised  and  delighted  at  a  diplomatic  nego- 
tiation being  concluded  during  a  change  of  horses. 
I  passed  the  night  at  Brescia,  and  left  the  town  next 
morning  for  Venice.  I  was  too  near  that  celebrated 
city  not  to  gratify  the  curiosity  I  had  long  felt,  by 
a  visit  to  it. 

The  mainland  of  the  Venetian  Republic  was 
partly  in  the  occupation  of  the  French.      Dezensano, 

*  General  Berthier  was  not  just  then  with  Buonaparte. 


108      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  M10T  DE  MELITO. 

Peschiera  on  Lake  Guarda,  and  Verona,  an  important 
post  at  the  entrance  of  the  valley  of  the  Adige,  were 
garrisoned  by  French  troops,  and,  as  had  always 
happened  in  Italian  wars,  Venice,  unable  to  enforce 
respect  for  her  neutrality,  was  again  in  this  cam- 
paign fated  to  supply  a  field  of  battle  to  the  armies 
that  were  disputing  the  conquest  of  that  beautiful 
and  hapless  country.  I  found,  however,  no  French 
troops  beyond  Verona.  From  the  gates  and  towers 
of  Vicenza  and  Padua  the  standard  of  St.  Mark  was 
flying ;  the  smiling  valley  of  Brenta  lay  before  the 
traveller,  adorned  by  the  luxurious  dwellings  of  the 
wealthy  owners  of  a  hundred  magnificent  palaces, 
rising  from  the  banks  of  the  river,  whose  waters  were 
furrowed  in  ever}*  direction  by  boats  and  gondolas. 
During  this  journey  I  forgot  the  busy  scenes  I  had 
left  behind,  and  enjoyed  the  tranquil  landscape 
passing  before  my  eyes,  and  it  was  through  scenes  of 
continual  enchantment  that  I  reached  Fusino  on  the 
lagoon.  There,  a  far  different  spectacle  presented 
itself,  and  I  beheld,  at  last,  the  superb  city,  once  the 
proud  Queen  of  the  Adriatic,  rising  from  the  bosom 
of  the  waves  on  which  she  seems  rather  to  float  than 
to  repose. 

Venice,  when  I  saw  her  in  June  170(i,  was  still 
what  she  had  been  for  twelve  centuries.  The  same 
government,  the  same  customs  subsisted ;  I  beheld 
ancient    Venice,  although  her   existence   was  almost 


VENICE.  100 


at   an   end.       It  was  therefore  with  lively  interest 
that  [  visited  her  squares,  her  churches,  and  above 
all    her    ducal    palace,    and    the    halls    which    had 
witnessed  so  many  great  and  sanguinary  measures  ; 
the  secret  tribunals,  the  terrible  prisons ;  mute  walls 
which    though    about    to    fall,    were    still    standing, 
eloquent  of  remembrances  which  strike  the  imagina- 
tion with  that  terror  which  they  can  no  longer  in- 
spire.    The  powerful  institutions  which  had  so  long 
sustained  that  formidable  government,   now  shaken 
to  their  foundations  by  the  French  Revolution  and 
the   presence    of   our    armies,    were    tottering,    and 
could  no  more  support  the  grand  edifice  ;  the  least 
shock    must    bring    it    to    the    ground.       Nothing, 
indeed,    was    changed    in    appearance,    but    every- 
thing   was  about  to  change,  and  a  presentiment  of 
this  was  universally  felt- 
After  having  passed  a  few  days  at  Venice,  where 
I  did  not  meet  the  Minister  of  the  French  Republic, 
M.  Lallemant,  but  where  M.  Jacob,  the  Secretary  of 
Legation,    took   the   greatest   pains    to    gratify   my 
curiosity,  I  set  out  on  my  return  to  Florence.     When 
I  had  passed  the  Adige  and  the  Po,  I  resolved  on 
continuing  my  route  by  Ferrara  and  Bologna.     The 
Pope  was  at  this  period  endeavouring  to  obtain  an 
armistice,  which  was  concluded  shortly  afterwards. 
The  strict  orders   by  which   Frenchmen    were   for- 
bidden to  enter  the  Papal  States  had  already  been 


110      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT   MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

modified.  I  was  not,  therefore,  in  any  way  impeded, 
and  although  I  stayed  but  a  few  hours  at  Bologna, 
the  Governor,  on  being  informed  of  my  arrival, 
sent  to  offer  me  any  facilities  I  might  desire  for 
the  continuance  of  my  journey.  I  thanked  him, 
and  passing  the  Apennines  on  the  following  day 
reached  Florence  on  the  25th  Prairial  (June  13). 

Great  changes  had  taken  place  in  the  Tuscan 
Government  during  my  short  absence.  The  Grand 
Duke,  alarmed  by  our  successes,  trembling  for 
Leghorn,  and  aware  that  the  Directory  was  not 
satisfied  with  the  reparation  he  had  already  made,  had 
resolved,  in  hopes  of  dispelling  the  storm  which  he 
saw  was  coming,  to  give  the  conduct  of  Foreign 
Affairs  to  Signor  Fossombroni,  one  of  his  chamber- 
lains, who  had  acquired  a  distinguished  reputation 
in  mathematical  science.*  By  this  arrangement  he 
terminated  the  correspondence  between  the  French 
Legation  and  Signor  Serrati,  a  correspondence 
which  had  become  more  than  ever  strained  and 
intricate  owing  to  the  dislike  that  Serrati,  as 
Governor  of  Leghorn,  had  always  evinced  for 
the  French,  and  his  exlreme  partiality  for  the 
English.  But  although  the  new  arrangement  was 
agreeable    to   us   in    that    respect,    it    produced    no 

Signor  Fossombroni  is  the  author  of  a  highly  esteemed 
work, published  at  Avezzo  in  L 731, entitled,  'Saggiodi  Ricerche 
suir  [ntensita  del  Lume.' 


BOLOGNA.  Ill 


change  in  the  mind  of  the  Cabinet.  Signer  Fossom- 
broni  was  evidently  only  an  intermediary  between 
us  and  Signer  Serrati,  whose  influence  still  existed, 
and  who,  in  fact,  really  regulated  the  conduct  of 
affairs. 

Meanwhile  the  causes  of  complaint  to  which 
the  weakness  of  the  Tuscan  officials  at  Leghorn  had 
given  rise,  far  from  diminishing,  increased,  and 
excited  great  discontent  among  the  French.  It 
looked  as  if  the  officials  were  acting  in  concert 
with  the  persons  who,  for  other  reasons  than  those 
stated  above,  were  urging  the  Commander-in-Chief 
to  an  expedition  on  Leghorn.  The  danger  to 
Tuscany  was  evident,  and  I  soon  perceived  that  it 
was  no  longer  possible  either  to  avert  it,  or  preserve 
the  neutrality  of  the  country.  The  French  army 
was  approaching  in  two  columns ;  one  was  ad- 
vancing on  Reggio  by  the  new  Apennine  route,  and 
was  approaching  Pistoja,  the  other  was  marching  on 
Bologna.  Thus  our  troops  were  on  the  point  of 
entering  the  territory  of  the  Grand  Duke.  No  hope 
of  preventing  the  violation  of  the  treaty  remained, 
all  that  could  be  done  was  to  regulate  the  movement 
and  to  see  that  it  caused  as  little  damage  and  dis- 
order as  possible.  I  had  received  from  Buonaparte, 
as  he  had  promised  me,  an  intimation  of  his 
arrival  at  Bologna,  and  I  waited  upon  him  in  that 
town  on  the  4th  Messidor  (June  22).     He  was  con- 


112      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

versine;  with  General  Berthier  when  I  was  shown  in. 
Berthier  was,  like  myself,  a  native  of  Versailles ; 
I  had  been  very  familiar  with  him  during  my 
childhood  and  youth,  and  we  addressed  each  other 
with  our  old  intimacy,  using  the  "thou  "  and  "  thee." 
Buonaparte  remarked  this,  and  when  he  had  dis- 
missed Berthier,  said  lie  wished  to  have  a  private 
conversation  with  me.  Before  entering  on  this, 
he  asked  me,  "  How  long  have  you  known  Ber- 
thier, I  see  you  are  very  familiar  with  him  ?  "  I 
explained  in  a  few  words.  "  Very  well,"  he 
answered,  "  but  do  you,  like  so  many  people,  believe 
what  I  have  read  in  the  country  newspapers, 
that  it  is  to  Berthier  that  I  owe  my  success,  that 
he  directs  my  plans,  and  that  I  only  execute  what 
he  has  suggested  to  me  ?"* 

"  Not  at  all,"  I  replied  ;  "  I  know  him  too  well  to 
attribute  to  him  a  kind  of  ability  which  he  does  not 
possess.  And  if  he  did,  most  decidedly  he  would 
not  give  up  the  glory  of  it  to  you !"  "  You  are 
right,"  answered  Buonaparte  with  warmth,  "  Berthier 
is  not  capable  of  commanding  a  battalion  !  "j*     He 

*  Certain  foreign  newspapers,  in  order  to  lessen  Buonaparte's 
;j;lui-y,  delighted  to  represent  him  as  the  pupil  of  Berthier,  who 
certainly  was  at  least  fifteen  years  older  than  he. 

|  In  these  words  there  was  perhaps  exaggeration,  and  cer- 
tainly ill-humour.  It  is,  however,  ;i  fact,  that  Buonaparte  never 
confided  an  expedition  to  Berthier,  nor  ever  employed  him 
except  as  Chief  of  the  Staff.     He  did  give  him  in  L798,  when 


AN  IMPORTANT  INTERVIEW.  113 

stopped  there,  and  we  began  to  discuss  the  object  of 
my  journey  seriously.  This  interview  lasted  a  long 
time,  and  he  heard  me  with  great  attention. 

I  explained  to  him  in  detail  my  reasons  for 
insisting  on  the  observance  of  the  neutrality  of 
Tuscany.  "  What  are  you  going  to  do  ? "  I  asked 
him.  "  You  are  departing  from  the  real  object  of 
the  war,  instead  of  pursuing  the  Austrians  in  their 
retreat,  and  going  either  through  Tyrol  or  by  Styria 
to  threaten  Austria  with  the  presence  of  a  victorious 
army,  as  I  proposed  in  the  despatches  which  I  have 
written  to  Paris.  By  withdrawing  from  Upper  Italy 
you  give  the  enemy  time  to  breathe  and  to  put  a 
fresh  army  into  the  field,  larger  than  that  which  you 
have  just  so  completely  and  gloriously  defeated.  In 
the  meanwhile,  as  you  must  occupy  Leghorn  and 
maintain  your  line  of  communication  with  that  town, 
you  weaken  yourself  by  the  necessity  of  leaving 
a  portion  of  your  forces  there.  And  do  not  be 
deceived  ;  you  will  not  gain  the  advantages  you 
expect  from  the  occupation  of  Leghorn.  A  large 
part  of  the  wealth  that  the  English  possess  there  has 
already  been  removed  or  hidden.  No  sooner  will 
you  have  entered  the  port    of  Leghorn,   than    the 


leaving  Italy,  the  command  in  chief  of  the  army,  hut,  as  the 
reader  will  see,  he  did  so  only  to  justify  the  opinion  which  he 
expressed  on  the  occasion  of  my  second  interview  with  him. 

VOL    I.  I 


114      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

English  will  enter  Porto-Ferrajo,*  and  we  shall 
have  no  right  to  complain  of  a  violation  of  neu- 
trality, of  which  we  ourselves  shall  have  set  the 
example.  Of  course,  notwithstanding  the  precau- 
tions of  the  English  merchants,  there  will  still  be 
merchandise  and  property  of  theirs  in  Leghorn. 
Seals  will  be  put  on  their  warehouses  ;  their  goods 
will  be  sold  ;  but  who  profit  by  those  seizures  and 
sales  ?      The  Commissioners  of   the  Directorv :    the 

•/     7 

crowd  of  agents  who  follow  your  army,  attracted  by 
the  hope  of  gain.  You  will  be  engaged  in  military 
operations,  which  must  occupy  your  every  moment 
and  your  every  thought,  and  you  will  soon  lose 
sight  of  Leghorn.  Frightful  abuses  will  result  from 
the  occupation,  scandalous  fortunes  will  be  made, 
and  I  shall  be  the  reluctant  witness  of  countless 
transactions  dishonouring  to  the  French  name,  but 
which  I  shall  be  powerless  either  to  prevent  or  to 
punish.  Everything  will  be  disguised  under  the 
grand  names  of  patriotism,  insults  to  avenge,  and 
respect  for  the  national  flag.  Immediately  on  your 
departure,  a  dictatorial  power  will  be  established, 
tliure  will  be  vexations  of  all  kinds,  and  the  popular 
feeling,  already  averse  to  us,  will  become  still 
more  inimical.  Then  if  the  fortune  of  war  should 
waver  for  a  moment,  the  French   would  be  exposed 

The  English,  in  fact,  seized  upon  l'orto-Fcrrajo  on  28th 
Messidor  (Jnly  1 1),  less  than  a  fortnight  after  the  French  entered 
I  leghorn. 


TOO  LATE.  115 


to  the  most  merciless  reprisals,  and  neither  an 
armistice  nor  even  a  treaty  of  peace  could  insure 
their  safety." 

"  If  I  had  heard  what  you  had  to  say  sooner," 
replied  the  General,  "  perhaps  I  should  not  have 
given  orders  for  the  movement  that  is  taking  place 
to-day  ;  but  it  is  too  late  now,  it  has  commenced. 
The  Directory  is  expecting  to  find  mountains  of  gold 
at  Leghorn,  and  has  its  head  turned.  Every  one 
sides  with  its  action  ;  I  am  powerless.  I  will  try  to 
prevent  disorder,  you  may  assure  the  Grand  Duke  of 
that.  But,  then,  he  must  give  the  strictest  orders 
that  the  troops  are  to  be  respected  and  their  wants 
abundantly  supplied.  I  shall  go  to  Florence  on 
my  return  from  Leghorn.  I  shall  finish  with  the 
Pope  to-morrow.  I  mean  to  grant  him  an  armistice, 
but  on  condition  that  he  give  us  money,  paintings, 
and  statues.  If  you  will  go  to  Rome  and  undertake 
the  execution  of  the  treaty,  I  will  forward  it  to  you 
from  Pistoja,  where  I  shall  be  in  two  days'  time,  and 
where  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you  again,  if  your 
occupations  will  permit.  In  any  case  vre  shall  meet 
at  Florence." 

I  answered  in  a  few  words.  The  General's  in- 
tention of  treating  with  the  Court  of  Rome  proved 
that,  supposing  him  to  have  looked  over  the  memo- 
randum I  had  forwarded  to  him  a  fortnight  previously 
at  Brescia,  he  had  not  adopted  the  opinions  expressed 

i   2 


116     MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

in  it.  To  treat  with  the  Pope  was  to  recognise  his 
power,  and  to  guarantee  his  existence  hoth  as  Prince 
and  as  Pontiff.  I  pointed  this  out  to  Buonaparte, 
but  he  evaded  an  explanation,  and  I  perceived 
that  he  had  no  intention  of  taking  advantage  of  our 
victories  to  destroy  the  double  power  of  the  Holy 
See,  and  that,  notwithstanding  the  sacrifices  he  was 
about  to  exact  from  the  Papal  Court,  he  was  careful 
to  maintain  the  principle  of  its  existence  and 
anxious  for  its  safety.  Was  he  already  thinking  of 
the  use  which  he  would  one  day  make  of  it  ?  That 
he  was,  cannot  be  proved ;  but  subsequent  events 
have  shown  that  the  conjecture  is  at  least  plausible. 

Seeing  therefore  that  there  was  nothing  more  to 
be  done  to  advance  the  principal  object  of  my 
journey,  that  the  neutrality  of  Tuscany  was  to  be 
violated,  and  that  Rome  would  escape  with  the  sacri- 
fice of  some  money  and  pictures,  I  confined  myself 
to  asking  that  Buonaparte  would  at  least,  when  he 
moved  the  columns  of  his  army,  avoid  sending 
any  troops  through  Florence.  I  represented  to 
him  that  the  Grand  Duke  was  particularly  anxious 
to  spare  his  capital  the  inconveniences  and  in  a  sense 
the  shame  of  foreign  troops  passing  through  it,  and 
that  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  right  to  .satisfy  him  on 
this  point  The  General  gave  me  his  promise,  and 
we  parted.  In  the  course  of  the  day  I  saw  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Directory,  Salicetti  and  (Jarrau. 


FLORENCE.  117 


They  purposed  following  the  march  of  the  army  to 
Leghorn,  and  announced  to  me  that  after  having 
regulated  the  affairs  of  the  administration  they 
would  come  in  their  turn  to  visit  me  at  Florence. 
I  entered  into  no  particulars  with  them  ;  and  left 
Bologna  on  the  following  morning,  5th  Messidor, 
year  III.  (June  23,  1795).  I  arrived  at  Florence 
on  the  same  day. 

I  found  the  Government  there  in  a  state  of  the 
greatest  alarm.  Notwithstanding  the  promise  made 
to  me  at  Bologna,  a  column  of  the  French  army 
was  marching  on  Florence,  and  in  two  days'  time 
was  to  pass  through  the  city.  The  excitement  was 
extreme,  and  the  conjuncture  all  the  more  un- 
fortunate, that  the  passage  of  the  troops  would 
occur  on  the  Feast  of  St.  John,  which  is  celebrated 
with  great  pomp  at  Florence,  that  Saint  being  the 
patron  of  the  city.* 

I  saw  the  Grand  Duke  on  the  morning  of  the 
6th  Messidor  (June  24),  at  a  place  which  he  had 
appointed    in    the    Boboli   Gardens.     I  protested  to 

*  On  the  Feast  of  St.  John,  the  Grand  Duke  with  his  Court 
proceeds  in  the  morning  to  the  Palazzo- Vecchio  square,  to 
receive  the  homage  of  the  magistrates  of  Florence  and  of  the 
other  towns  of  his  States.  On  the  eve  of  the  Feast,  also,  he  is 
present  in  great  state  at  the  horse-races,  which  attract  vast 
crowds.  On  these  two  days  in  the  year,  only,  does  the  Court  of 
Tuscany,  which  is  very  simple  in  its  habits,  display  any 
magnificence. 


118      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  3II0T  BE  MELITO. 

him  that  I  had  received  a  positive  promise  from 
General  Buonaparte  that  no  troops  of  any  kind 
should  pass  through  his  capital,  that  I  suspected 
there  must  be  some  misunderstanding  about  the 
order,  but  that  I  was  going  to  send  off  a  courier 
and  had  no  doubt  it  would  be  countermanded.  In 
fact,  the  courier  on  his  return  brought  me  a  despatch 
from  the  Chief  of  the  Staff  which  informed  me  that 
through  an  official  mistake  only,  some  troops  had 
been  ordered  to  pass  through  Florence,  and  that  the 
error  had  been  rectified. 

Meanwhile  the  French  army  destined  for  the 
occupation  of  Leghorn  had  entered  Tuscan  territory 
by  way  of  Pistoja  on  the  5th  Messidor,  and  Buona- 
parte, who  was  already  in  the  town,  sent  me  his 
aide-de-camp,  Martnont,  on  the  8th,  with  a  letter 
announcing  to  the  Grand  Duke  that  the  Executive 
Directory  had  ordered  a  march  on  Leghorn.  To 
that  information  the  General  added,  that,  although 
forced  to  take  this  step  by  the  repeated  insults  which 
the  national  flag  had  suffered  in  Leghorn  at  the 
hands  of  the  English,  the  French  Government 
desired  to  maintain  friendly  relations  with  Tuscany.* 

The  aide-de-camp  was  also  the  bearer  of  a  letter 
for    me    from    Berthier.       He    informed    me    that 

*  This  Letter,  together  with  theanswer  made  to  it  by  Fossom- 
broni  in  tli''  li.uiic  of  the  Grand   Duke,  may  ho  found  in  the 
( razette  de  Florence,'  "I'  Tuesday .  June  28,  1796. 


WAITING  FOR  BUONAPARTE.  119 


General  Buonaparte  wished  to  see  me,  but  that  I 
must  come  that  same  night,  because  he  intended  to 
leave  early  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  for  Leghorn. 
I  could  not  start,  accompanied  by  Marmont,  until 
very  late  on  the  night  of  the  8th,  and  I  learned  at 
Prato  that  the  General  had  already  gone  on.  I 
went  no  farther,  therefore,  but  returned  to  Florence, 
where  I  waited  to  see  him  on  his  way  back  from 
Leghorn. 

The  French  army,  which  had  begun  to  move  on 
the  6th  Messidor,  was  advancing  on  Leghorn  from 
Pistoja,  without  crossing  the  territory  of  the  Re- 
public of  Lucca  although  that  route,  being  the 
shortest,  seemed    the   most   natural.*     On    the    9th 

*  M.  Eedon  de  Belleville,  then  Consul  of  the  Bepublic  at 
Leghorn,  assured  me  some  time  after  the  occupation  of  that 
town,  that  good  treatment  fur  Lucca  had  been  dearly  bought 
by  the  magistrates  of  the  Bepublic.  According  to  information 
which  he  had  obtained,  a  sum  of  from  £240,000  to  £280,000  was 
placed  by  the  Commissioners  of  Lucca  in  the  hands  of  an  agent 
of  Salicetti,  at  a  house  in  the  suburbs  of  Leghorn.  This  agent 
was  the  elder  Arena.  He  was  a  compatriot  of  the  Commissioner 
of  the  Directory,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  Convention. 
He  was  appointed  afterwards  one  of  the  Council  of  the  Five 
Hundred,  and  on  the  18th  Brumaire,  year  V1IL,  was  one  of  those 
deputies  who  most  strenuously  opposed  the  designs  of  Buona- 
parte. His  brother,  Joseph  Arena,  afterwards  played  a  part  in 
the  conspiracy  of  Ceracchi,  year  IX.,  and  perished  on  the 
scaffold.  I  do  not  know  how  far  the  truth  of  the  fact  I  relate 
may  be  relied  on,  but  I  am  certain  that  M.  de  Belleville  was 
incapable  of  inventing  it.  The  immense  fortune  that  Salicetti 
made  in  Italy  gives  it  probability. 


120    MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MBLITO. 

Messidor  (June  27)  a  division  of  cavalry  reached 
the  gates  of  the  town.  The  officer  in  command 
having  presented  himself  at  the  house  of  Spanocchi, 
the  Governor,  was  at  first  coldlv  received ;  but  after 
a  few  difficulties,  which  were  promptly  settled, 
the  troops  entered  the  town  and  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  most  important  positions.  A  pro- 
clamation was  placarded  to  tranquillise  the  inhabi- 
tants, whose  hostile  feelings  towards  the  French 
were  freely  manifested.  Buonaparte  arrived  that 
evening,  and  ordered  the  arrest  of  the  Tuscan 
Governor,  of  whose  conduct  the  general  of  the  van- 
guard had  complained.  The  following  is  a  letter 
which  Berthier  sent  me  by  one  of  his  aides-de-camp 
to  inform  me  of  these  events.  With  it  came  a  letter 
from  Buonaparte  to  the  Grand  Duke. 

"  Headquarters,  Leghorn,  10th  Messidor, 

"  Year  IV.  of  the  French  Kepuhlic, 

"  One  and  Indivisible. 

"  The  Chief  of  the  Staff  to  his  friend  Miot. 

"  Everything  here,  my  dear  friend,  is  going  on 
well.  The  late  Governor  played  scapegoat  for  all. 
lie  certainly  showed  very  different  feelings  towards 
us  from  those  evinced  by  His  Royal  Highness. 
After  you  have  read  the  letter  of  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  to  the  Grand  Duke,  send  it  onto  him  as 
quickly  as  possible. 


BERTHIER'S  LETTER.  121 

"  The  Comraander-in-Cliief  will  reach  Florence  the 
day  after  to-morrow.  We  shall  come  to  your  house. 
He  desires  me  to  tell  you  that  he  expects  you  to  give 
a  grand  ball  and  supper.  I  sincerely  hope  that  our 
ambassador  will  display  dignity  and  magnificence 
worthy  of  the  French  Eepublic.  I  must  tell  you 
that  we  want  to  be  put  up  at  the  Legation. 

"  Adieu.  I  embrace  you.  My  aide-de-camp  will 
tell  you  all  I  have  left  unsaid. 

"Alexander  Berthier." 

I  handed  Buonaparte's  letter  to  the  Grand  Duke, 
excused  as  well  as  I  could  the  violence  used  towards 
the  Governor  of  Leghorn,  and  announced  the  speedy 
arrival  of  the  General.  The  Grand  Duke  received 
these  communications  with  ill -concealed  concern, 
but  at  the  same  time  with  resignation.  He  told 
me  that  he  would  give  orders  for  the  reception  of 
the  General  with  the  honour  due  to  his  rank,  and 
spoke  to  me  with  the  greatest  admiration  of  his 
military  talent  and  of  the  glory  he  had  acquired  by 
his  victories.  I  assured  him  on  mv  side  that  the 
General  would  hasten  to  solicit  the  honour  of  being 
presented  to  him_,  and  the  audience,  equally  painful 
for  both  parties,  was  brought  to  a  close — coldly,  but 
without  auy  rupture. 

Buonaparte,  according  to  promise,  reached  Florence 
on    the   12th    Messidor,    year  IV.  (June  30,    1796), 


122      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

at  about  seven  in  the  evening.*  He  alighted  at 
the  palace  in  which  I  lived, f  whither  the  Grand 
Duke  had  sent  a  company  of  infantry  with  a  flag 
to  receive  him.  He  was  accompanied  by  General 
Berthier  and  two  aides-de-camp,  Murat  and  Leclerc ; 
and  escorted  by  a  picket  of  dragoons.  I  received 
him  and  his  staff  into  my  house,  and  thus  there 
was  no  need  to  quarter  any  one  in  the  town.  The 
soldiers  were  lodged  in  a  vast  orangery  belonging 
to  the  gardens  of  the  Ximenes  Palace.  The  in- 
habitants of  Florence  were  thus  in  no  way  incon- 
venienced by  the  presence  of  the  French  dragoons, 
and  all  vexatious  incidents  were  avoided.  I  had 
invited  a  great  many  people  to  dinner,  and  there 
was  a  crowd  at  my  house,  both  before  and  after 
the  play.  Curiosity  to  see  a  man  who  had  ac- 
complished such  prodigious  exploits  attracted  great 
numbers  to  the  theatres ;  the  streets  through  which 
Buonaparte  passed,  from  the  San  Fridiano  Gate, 
by  which  he  entered,  to  the  Pitti  Gate,  near 
which  I  lived,  a  distance  forming  the  diameter  of 
the  town,  were  filled  with  the  whole  population  who 
Hocked  from  every  quarter  to  behold  the  spectacle. 
His   was   truly    a   triumphant   entry,   although    no 

*  He  had  remained  on  tho  20t,h  of  .June  at  San  Miniato,  where 
Canon  Philippe  Buonaparte,  one  of  his  relatives,  lived.  He  left 
San  Miniato  again  on  the  30th. 

t  Palazzo  Ximenes,  via  porta  Pitti. 


BUONAPARTE  AND   THE  GRAND  DUKE.        123 


shouts  were  uttered  by  the  multitude,  and  astonish- 
ment rather  than  admiration  prevailed  over  every 
other  sentiment  in  the  reception  of  the  conqueror. 

The  next  morning  I  accompanied  him  to  the  Court 
and  presented  him  to  the  Grand  Duke,*  with  whom 
lie  conversed  for  some  time.  His  Imperial  Highness 
invited  the  General  to  dinner,  and  left  it  to  him  to 
name  the  officers  of  his  staff  to  whom  he  desired  the 
same  honour  to  be  extended.  The  dinner  took  place, 
but  the  Grand  Duchess,  pleading  an  indisposition,  did 
not  appear.  The  Grand  Duke  placed  my  wife  on 
his  right  hand,  and  Buonaparte  on  his  left.  A  few 
ladies  of  the  Court  were  present.  After  dinner  the 
General  took  leave  of  the  Grand  Duke,  and  we  went 
down  with  him  into  the  Boboli  Gardens,  where  a 
courier,  arriving  from  headquarters,  handed  him 
despatches  announcing  the  surrender  of  the  fortress 
of  Milan.  I  had  arranged  to  give  the  ball  he  had 
wished  for  on  the  next  day,  but  he  could  not  stay 
Ion o-er,  and  left  at  once  to  return  to  headquarters 
by  way  of  Bologna.  In  the  various  conversations 
that  I  had  with  Buonaparte  during  those  two  days,  he 
appeared  to  me  to  be  intent  upon  the  movements  of 
the  Austrians,  and  very  anxious  to  rejoin  his  army. 

*  Fourteen  years  after,  in  1811,  I  saw  this  same  Grand  Duke, 
at  the  Tuileries,  standing  unnoticed  amid  the  crowd  who  besieged 
the  doors  of  Buonaparte,  now  become  Emperor  and  King,  and 
awaiting,  with  the  other  courtiers,  the  hour  of  his  "lever." 


124      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  3II0T  BE  MELITO. 

I  know  that  it  was  with  regret  he  left  troops  in 
Tuscany,  although  he  had  reduced  their  number  as 
low  as  possible.  I  entreated  him  to  deal  as  gently 
as  he  could  with  the  country,  so  as  not  to  enrage  the 
inhabitants  at  a  moment  when  he  had  so  few  men 
to  control  their  discontent,  and  secure  his  own  line 
of  communications  from  interruption. 

I  suggested  to  him  that  he  should  put  forth  a 
proclamation  enjoining  on  the  superior  officers  the 
necessity  of  the  strictest  discipline  during  the  passage 
of  the  French  troops  through  Tuscany.  He  consented, 
and  I  began  to  draw  it  up ;  but  he  was  offended  by 
a  phrase  in  which  I  used  the  expression,  "  the  Com- 
manders of  the  French  army"  and  erasing  these 
words  with  some  irritation,  he  told  me  that  the  army 
had  but  one  Commander,  and  that  was  himself.  After 
several  attempts  at  drawing  up  the  proclamation,  he 
resolved  to  issue  it  from  Bologna,  where  he  was  to 
arrive  next  day,  but  I  heard  nothing  more  of  it. 
Notwithstanding  this  slight  cloud,  we  parted  on 
very  good  terms,  and  from  that  time  forward  our 
correspondence  was  carried  on  in  a  confidential  and 
friendly  spirit,  which  subsisted  between  us  for  a 
long  time. 

After  the  General's  departure  for  Northern  Italy, 
I  Ik-  Commissioners  of  the  Directory,  who  had  rc- 
mained  a1  Leghorn,  placed  seals  on  the  English  pro- 
perty   there,  Bold   part  of  it,  ami  used  the  rest  for 


JOSEPHINE.  125 


the  supply  of  the  army.  But  as  I  was  in  no  way 
concerned  in  these  financial  transactions,  I  can  give 
no  details  on  the  subject.  When  the  preliminary 
arrangements  had  been  made,  the  two  Commissioners, 
Salicetti  and  Garrau,  came  to  spend  a  few  days  at 
Florence.  Madame  Buonaparte,  who  was  curious  to 
see  the  town,  also  arrived  there  a  short  time  after- 
wards. On  that  occasion  I  renewed  my  acquaintance 
with  her.  I  had  met  her  in  society  at  Paris,  but  not 
often,  and  I  had  formed  an  estimate  of  her  which 
my  increased  intimacy  with  her  during  her  stay  at 
Florence  only  served  to  confirm.  Never  has  any 
woman  united  greater  kindness  of  heart  with  greater 
natural  grace,  never  has  any  woman  done  more  good 
with  more  pleasure  than  she.  She  honoured  me  with 
her  friendship,  and  the  recollection  of  the  kindness 
she  showed  me  until  the  last  moments  of  her  too 
brief  existence  will  never  be  erased  from  my  heart. 

When  my  guests  had  departed,  I  began  to  prepare 
to  leave  Florence  for  Rome.  But  in  order  to  ex- 
plain the  motives  of  this  journey,  I  must  go  back  a 
little  in  my  narrative. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  war  in  Italy,  and 
especially  when  the  temporary  success  of  the 
Austrians  in  the  Riviera  of  Genoa,  under  General 
de  Vins,  during  the  month  of  Messidor,  year  III. 
(July  1795),  had  restored  confidence  to  the  Powers 
inimical    to  France,  the  Pope  had  taken   an  active 


12G       MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


part  in  the  war,  and  once  more  roused  against  ns  the 
same  populace  which  in  January  1793  had  murdered 
Consul  Basseville.  After  that  event,  no  Frencli 
agent  had  remained  at  Rome;  our  artists  had  all 
sought  refuge  at  Florence,  and  we  had  thus  been 
three  years  without  holding  any  communication 
with  Rome.  When  Spain  recognised  and  entered 
into  a  treaty  with  the  French  Republic,  on  the 
4th  Thermidor,  year  III.  (July  22,  1795),  a  share 
of  the  enmity  that  we  inspired  devolved  on  the 
Spaniard,  and  his  residence  in  Rome  soon  became 
unbearable  to  the  Chevalier  d'Azara,  ambassador 
from  Spain  to  the  Holy  See. 

He  also  established  himself  at  Florence,  in  the 
spring  of  1796,  and  I  then  enjoyed  the  advantage 
of  intimacy  with  that  cultivated  lover  of  the  fine 
arts,  who  had  adopted  Rome  as  his  second  father- 
land. He  was  a  sincere  friend  to  France,  and 
shared  our  joy  at  the  victories  of  our  troops, 
while  he  at  once  foresaw  that  our  success  would 
occasion  a  change  of  language,  if  not  of  feeling,  at 
the  Court  of  Rome.  He  was  not  mistaken,  and  lie 
was  soon  solicited,  by  the  very  Court  which  had  in 
some  sort  exiled  him,  to  employ  his  own  best  en- 
deavours and  the  mediation  of  Spain,  whom  he 
represented  in  Italy,  to  obtain  a  suspension  of 
hostilities  until  peace  could  be  definitively  arranged. 
M.  d'Azara',  having  accepted  this  honourable  mission, 


THE  TREATY  WITH  ROME.  127 

came  to  the  Commander-in-Chief  at  Bologna,  accom- 
panied by  M.  Antonio  Gruendy,  whom  the  Pope  had 
appointed  his  Minister  Plenipotentiary.  I  saw  them 
both  on  the  4th  Messidor  at  Bologna,  and  on  the 
next  day,  the  5th  (June  23,  1796),  the  armistice 
was  signed  in  the  name  of  the  Pope,  by  the  Chevalier 
d'Azara  and  M.  G-uendy,  and  in  the  name  of  the 
French  Republic  by  Buonaparte,  Salicetti,  and 
Grarrau.  The  Pope  undertook  to  pay  twenty-one 
millions  of  Roman  lire,  and  to  hand  over  to  France 
one  hundred  pictures,  busts  or  statues,  together  with 
five  hundred  manuscripts.*  The  matter  in  hand 
was  to  get  this  armistice  carried  out,  its  conditions 
being  very  hard,  and  not  as  yet  ratified  by  the 
Pope.f  Buonaparte,  as  I  have  before  said,  had 
already  informed  me  that  he  wished  me  to  undertake 
the  business,  and  had  caused  a  copy  of  the  treaty  to 

*  The  following  is  the  text  of  the  8th  Article  of  the  Treaty, 
containing  the  agreement  in  question  :  "  The  Pope  shall  deliver 
up  to  the  Bepublic,  at  the  choice  of  the  Commissioners  who  shall 
be  sent  to  Eome,  one  hundred  pictures,  busts,  vases  or  statues ; 
among  which  will  be  included  the  bronze  bust  of  Junius  Brutus 
and  the  marble  bust  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  both  in  the  Capitol, 
also  five  hundred  manuscripts,  at  the  choice  of  the  said  Com- 
missioners." It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  first  Article  states 
that  the  French  Government  consents  to  treat  only  in  order 
to  five  a  proof  of  its  deference  to  the  wishes  of  His  Majesty  the 
King  of  Spain. 

+  The  ratification,  although  dated  June  27,  was  not  then 
made  known.     It  was  handed  over  to  me  at  Eome  in  July. 


128       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

be  sent  to  me  from  Pistoja.  He  persisted  in  this 
resolution  when  at  Bologna,  and  sent  me,  through 
Berthier,  an  official  intimation  that  I  was  to  repair  to 
Rome.  The  Chevalier  d'Azara,  having  returned 
from  Bologna,  was  still  at  Florence  when  the  despatch 
reached  me,  and  I  communicated  it  to  him.  He 
seemed  pleased  to  find  himself  associated  with  me  in 
matters  of  a  delicate  nature  and  requiring  much 
moderation  and  good  management.  We  had  no 
troops  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome,  nor  would  we 
in  any  case  have  had  recourse  to  force.  He  advised 
me,  therefore,  to  defer  my  journey  for  a  few  days, 
that  he  might  have  time  to  precede  me  to  Rome, 
whither  he  would  repair  without  delay  and  whence 
he  would  write  to  me.  I  took  his  advice,  and  a  few 
days  afterwards  I  received  the  following  letter 
from  him : 

"  Rome,  July  14. 

"  I  readied  Rome  yesterday,  having  got  through 
my  journey  satisfactorily,  notwithstanding  my  bad 
state  of  health.  You  can  easily  imagine  that  since 
my  arrival  I  have  been  occupied  only  with  your 
journey.  I  liavc  seen  the  Pope,  and  have  informed 
him  of  all  that  you  and  I  agreed  on.  You  may  set 
out  therefore,  and  you  will  not  meet  with  the 
slightest  obstacle,  either  on  your  road,  or  in  Rome. 
You  will  come  to  the  Hotel  de  Sarmiento,  opposite 
tlie  Spa  nisi i  Embassy. 


TIIE   TEE  AT  Y   WITH  HOME.  129 


"  Immediately  on  your  arrival,  we  will  meet  and 
arrange  together  all  that  is  to  be  done.  I  will  in- 
troduce you  to  the  Secretary  of  State ;  afterwards 
you  shall  visit  the  Pope,  and  I  hope  you  will  be 
satisfied  with  everybody.  So  far  as  I  am  concerned, 
you  may  rely  on  my  desire  to  serve  you  and  to 
ensure  the  success  of  your  mission.  I  am  anxious 
to  embrace  you,  and  to  prove  to  you  the  interest  I 
take  in  yourself  personally,  and  the  friendship  I  feel 
for  you,"  &c. 

Some  few  days  before  this  letter  reached  me,  the 
Marquis  Massimo,  the  Pope's  envoy  for  the  negotia- 
tion of  a  definitive  peace,  had  arrived  at  Florence, 
and  I  had  seen  him.  He  had  assured  me  that  his 
Holiness's  dispositions  were  most  pacific,  and  that 
no  obstacle  would  be  offered  to  the  carrying  out  of 
the  armistice.  Reassured,  therefore,  on  all  sides  as 
to  the  success  of  my  mission,  and  no  longer  de- 
tained in  any  way  at  Florence,  where  I  left  the 
Commissioners  appointed  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment to  collect  objects  of  art  in  Italy,*  with  in- 
junctions to  join  me  as  soon  as  possible,  I  started 
on  the  30th  Messidor  (July  18),  and  reached  Rome 
on  the  3rd  Thermidor  (July  21).  M.  d'Azara  came 
as  far  as  Ponte  Molle  to  meet  me,  where  I  got  into 

*  This  Commission  comprised  MM.  Monge,  Berthollet, 
Thomir,  Barthelemy  the  painter,  Moitte  the  sonlptor,  and 
Tinet,  draughtsman  and  painter. 

VOL.    I.  K 


130       MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

his  carriage,  and  I  entered  the  city  with  him  in 
the  midst  of  an  immense  crowd,  who  followed  me 
with  unfriendly  glances,  and  whose  traditional  en- 
mity was  aroused  by  the  tricolor-cockade  in  my 
hat,  and  in  the  hats  of  the  persons  who  composed 
my  suite. 

Rome,  at  that  time,  presented  a  very  singular 
and  revolting  spectacle.  A  gloomy  fanaticism, 
kindled  by  the  monks  and  fed  by  absurd  fables, 
had  filled  the  minds  of  all. 

The  populace  was  exclusively  absorbed  in 
religious  practices,  and  listening  to  fanatical 
preachers,  and  the  higher  classes  of  society  dared 
not  hold  themselves  aloof.  The  streets  were 
choked  with  long  files  of  priests  or  monks,  walk- 
ing in  procession  and  followed  by  enormous  crowds. 
Men's  imaginations  were  excited,  and  only  dwelt 
on  marvels,  on  murders  and  on  vengeance.  Far 
from  quieting  this  commotion,  the  Government 
secretly  encouraged  it,  regarding  it  as  their  strong- 
est safeguard  against  the  propagation  of  revolu- 
tionary principles,  which  they  dreaded  above 
all  things.  My  presence  and  that  of  a  few 
other  Frenchmen,  in  the  midst  of  a  people  ready 
at  any  moment  to  commit  the  greatest  excesses, 
could  not  but  increase  the  popular  excitement, 
and  I  perceived  that  there  would  be  no  safety  either 
for     niv    countrymen    or    myself   if    the    terror    in 


PliESTIGE.  131 


spired  by  our  victories  and  the  near  neighbourhood 
of  our  armies  were  dispelled  for  even  a  single  day, 
or  if  the  fortune  of  war  ceased  for  one  instant  to  be 
favourable  to  us.  The  latter  contingency  arose. 
The  news  of  Wurmser's  arrival  at  the  head  of  a 
second  Austrian  army  had  revived  all  the  hopes  of 
our  enemies.  His  success  was  considered  certain  ;  it 
was  announced  beforehand,  although  no  operations 
were  as  yet  begun,  and  the  siege  of  Mantua  was 
carried  on  uninterruptedly. 

We,  in  the  heart  of  Italy,  already  felt  the  con- 
sequences of  these  ominous  reports,  and  we  might 
have  been  seriously  endangered  before  the  news 
of  the  victories  which  soon  after  lent  a  new 
lustre  to  French  arms  had  once  more  filled  the 
people  with  that  terror  which  was  our  only  security. 

I  must,  however,  do  justice  to  the  conduct  of 
the  Pope's  Government  towards  me.  Although 
the  reports  abroad  were  of  a  nature  to  make  it 
less  docile  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  armistice 
just  concluded  at  Bologna,  I  did  not  at  first  meet 
with  all  the  difficulties  I  expected.  The  Chevalier 
d'Azara,  who  seconded  me  admirably  at  each  step 
I  took,  accompanied  me  to  the  Secretary  of  State, 
Cardinal  Zelada,  who  gave  me  a  positive  assur- 
ance of  the  payment  of  the  first  instalment  of 
the  contribution  which  the  Court  of  Rome  was  to 
furnish,  by  virtue  of  Article  9  of  the  armistice,  and, 

k  2 


132      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

in  fact,  I  received  proof  that  this  first  instalment 
was  on  its  way  to  Bologna.  I  obtained  also,  and 
on  the  spot,  the  liberation  of  certain  men  who  had 
been  imprisoned  for  their  political  opinions,  and 
of  whom  General  Buonaparte  had  sent  me  a  list. 

On  the  next  day,  after  my  interview  with  the 
Secretary  of  State,  I  was  conducted  by  M.  d'Azara 
to  the  Monte  Cavallo*  Palace,  to  have  an  audience 
of  the  Pope.  I  was  accompanied  by  M.  Fre'ville, 
Secretary  to  the  Legation.  We  each  wore  the 
uniform  of  the  National  Guard.  The  Pope  was 
seated  on  a  dais,  raised  one  step  from  the  ground, 
with  a  canopy.  In  front  of  him  was  a  table  on  which 
were  a  number  of  papers,  writing-materials,  and 
a  bell.  When  I  was  announced  by  the  chamber- 
lain, who  drew  back  the  door-hangings,  his  PToliness 
rose,  came  down  from  the  dais,  and  advanced  to 
meet  me.  M.  d'Azara  made  a  genuflection  on 
entering ;  I  only  bowed  profoundly,  and  the  Pope, 
having  taken  me  by  the  hand,  led  me  up  to  the 
dais,  where  he  resumed  his  place,  and,  pointing  to 
a  seat  on  his  left  hand  lower  than  his  own,  invited 
me  by  a  gesture  to  be  seated.  M.  Freville  sat 
near  me,  and  the  Chevalier  d'Azara  opposite  the 
Holy  Father's  writing-table.  Pius  VI.,  although 
lie  had  reached  ;iu  advanced  age,  was  still  a  rcmark- 

*  Formerly  (lie  Quirinal   Hill.     The  Pope  resides  there  in 
i  ummer,  tin1  air  being  more  salubrious  than  ;il  the  Vatican. 


PIUS    VI.  133 


ably  handsome  man.  He  was  distinguished  by  an 
elegant  and  well-proportioned  figure,  and  a  coun- 
tenance full  of  nobility  and  mildness.  He  lacked 
none  of  the  outward  gifts  of  Nature,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  approach  him  without  a  feeling  of 
respectful  admiration.  This,  at  least,  was  the  senti- 
ment which  I  experienced  on  seeing  him.  The  con- 
versation was  in  Italian.  I  assured  the  Pope  that,  in 
carrying  out  the  conditions  of  the  armistice,  I  would 
do  all  in  my  power  to  render  them  less  onerous, 
while  I  ventured  to  hope,  in  return,  that  his  Holiness 
would  deign  to  give  orders  that  the  Commissioners 
who  had  been  entrusted  with  the  selection  of  the 
works  of  art  should  have  all  needful  facilities  for 
fulfilling  their  mission.  "  I  will  do  so,"  he  answered 
eagerly  ;  "  the  execution  of  these  conditions  is  a 
sacred  thing  (S  cosa  sacro-santa) .  Rome  will  still 
be  rich  enough  in  objects  of  Art,  and  I  do  not 
think  that  in  making  this  sacrifice  I  have  bought 
the  peace  of  my  States  too  dear.  Here,"  added 
his  Holiness,  "  is  the  ratification  of  the  treaty. 
I  wished  to  hand  it  over  to  you  myself,  in  order 
to  convince  you  that  I  have  no  repugnance  to  in- 
vesting this  act  with  my  consent."* 

The   conversation   then  turned   on  more   general 
topics.     We  spoke  of  Rome,  and  of  all  that  attracts 

*  The   ratification,   correctly    drawn    up,  was    signed    Pius 
Papa  VI. 


131       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

the  curiosity  of  strangers.     At  last,  after  an  inter- 
view of  half  an  hour,  the  Pope  rose  to  dismiss  me. 

A  few  days  after  this  audience,  the  Commissioners 
whom  I  had  left  at  Florence  rejoined  me. 

I  found  them  much  alarmed  by  the  reports  they 
had  heard  everywhere  on  the  road  between  Florence 
and  Rome,  and  by  the  ill-feeling  they  had  observed 
at  the  places  at  which  they  had  stopped.  I  could 
not  wholly  tranquil lise  them ;  I  myself  was  anxious, 
and  I  had  received  no  reassuring  despatch  either 
from  the  headquarters  of  the  army  or  from 
Florence. 

I  advised  them,  however,  to  set  about  the  mission 
entrusted  to  them  ;  I  put  them  in  communication 
with  the  Pope's  agents,  and  it  was  those  same  agents 
whom  they  employed  to  pack  the  valuable  works 
which  they  selected. 

In  the  brief  leisure  afforded  by  my  numerous 
occupations,  I  visited  Rome  and  made  myself  ac- 
quainted with  the  neighbouring  country.  But  I 
could  barely  satisfy  the  most  urgent  demands  of  my 
curiosity.  When  I  visited  Italy  ten  years  later, 
and  made  a  longer  slay  at  Rome  in  more  tran- 
quil times,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  thoroughly 
investigating  that  famous  city.  I  shall  therefore 
defer  speaking  of  it  until  1  shall  have  readied  the 
later  period  of  my  narrative. 

While  the  animosity  of  the  Italian   people   to  us 


THE  BEVOLUTIONISTS.  135 

was  revived  by  the  first  report  of  our  reverses,  which 
their  enmity  led  them  to  receive  as  certainly  true, 
a  few  men  of  sounder  sense,  and  many  others 
stimulated  by  private  dislike,  and  especially  by 
ambition  to  play  a  part  in  the  history  of  their 
country,  had  hastened  to  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
and  even  to  Paris,  with  plans  of  revolution  in  Italy, 
and  claimed  the  intervention  of  the  French  to  help 
them  to  upset  absolute  government  and,  as  they 
expressed  it,  to  restore  liberty  to  their  country. 

The  importunity  of  these  patriots,  who  displayed 
no  less  enthusiasm  in  their  republican  fanaticism 
than  did  the  rest  of  their  fellow-citizens  in  their 
religious  fanaticism,  made  an  impression  on  the 
Executive  Directory,  which  was  already  disposed 
towards  political  proselytism,  and  I  foresaw  that  if 
Buonaparte  would  lend  a  helping  hand,  it  would 
not  be  disinclined  to  let  this  leaven  of  Revolution 
ferment,  and  to  aid  its  development.  A  despatch 
which  I  received  during  my  stay  at  Rome,  revealed 
this  to  me.  It  contained  one  leading  query :  "  Is 
it  possible,  is  it  desirable  for  the  French  Republic 
to  republicanise  Italy  ? "  1  was  perhaps  better 
able  than  any  other  political  agent  to  discuss  this 
question.  I  was  in  the  heart  of  Italy.  I  had 
lived  more  than  a  year  in  the  country  ;  I  had 
closely  observed  the  conduct  and  the  feelings  of 
the   people   and   their   governments    in  the    various 


136      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

positions  we  had  held  towards  them,  whether  as 
victors  or  as  vanquished ;  I  knew  how  much  either 
of  submission  or  resistance  we  had  to  expect  from 
them.  I  believed  it  therefore  to  be  my  duty  to 
put  forward  the  opinions  which  circumstances  had 
led  me  to  form. 

As  I  also  desire  to  clear  my  character  of  the 
suspicion  that  during  my  stay  in  Italy  I  was  guilty 
of  participating  in  acts  of  violence  or  in  breaches  of 
faith,  which,  on  the  contrary,  I  always  resisted  or 
blamed,  I  will  here  copy  the  reply  which  I  made 
to  the  question  put  to  me  by  the  Minister  of 
Exterior  Relations.  That  reply  is  dated  Rome, 
9th  Thermidor,  year  IV.  (July  27,  1796). 

"  Citizen  Minister. 

"  I  have  received  your  letter  of  29th  Messidor 
since  my  arrival  in  this  city.  I  will  devote  mine 
to  answering  the  questions  you  address  to  me,  by 
placing  before  you  the  result  of  the  observations 
I  have  md.de  on  the  state  of  public  feeling  in 
Italy,  on  the  resources  it  offers,  and  on  the  use 
that  may  be  made  of  it  for  the  conception  or  the 
establishment  of  a  new  political  system  in  the 
countries  that  have  been  subjugated  by  French 
arms.  My  further  residence  in  Rome  may  furnish 
me  with  additional  means  of  clearing  up  many  diffi- 
culties and  of  forming  a  more  general  opinion. 


A    DESPATCH   TO    THE  MINISTER.  137 

"  The  chief  question  which  is  put  to  me,  is  the 
following :  'Is  it  possible,  is  it  desirable  for  the 
French  Republic  to  republicanise  Italy  ? '  The 
second  part  of  this  question  depends  clearly  on  the 
first ;  for  it  is  evident  that  if  such  a  change  were 
possible  it  would  certainly  be  desirable.  All  that 
is  required,  therefore,  is  to  examine  that  possibility. 

"  If  by  the  word  republicanise  is  to  be  understood 
the  establishment  of  a  system  of  government 
founded  on  the  same  principles  as  our  own,  resting 
merely  on  such  simple  bases  as  those  of  political 
liberty  and  equality,  and  divested  of  all  prejudices, 
I  do  not  see  as  yet  any  means  of  attaining  that 
end  in  Italy.  We  shall  doubtless  find  a  few  sin- 
cere persons,  but  many  others  moved  by  private 
interests,  and  especially  by  a  spirit  of  revenge,  who 
will  be  anxious  to  persuade  us  that  a  complete 
revolution  is  possible  and  even  easy.  A  cursory 
examination  of  the  means  they  propose  to  employ, 
the  monstrous  alliance  they  would  attempt  between 
superstition  and  policy,  the  use  they  would  actually 
venture  to  make  of  that  execrable  weapon  in  order 
to  found  a  revolution,  will,  however,  show  how  im- 
practicable it  would  be  as  yet — in  the  full  complete- 
ness I  have  just  sketched  out,  and  the  Directory 
cannot  be  too  much  on  its  guard  against  such 
projects. 

"  If,  on  the  contrary,  in  order  to  make  our  victories 


133       MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

conducive  to  our  true  interests,  we  confine  ourselves 
in  the  present  state  of  Italy  to  practicable  political 
changes  which  will  be  useful  to  its  inhabitants,  the 
question,  from  that  point  of  view,  becomes  more  in- 
teresting and  its  discussion  assumes  real  importance. 

"  You  will  remember,  Citizen  Minister,  what  I 
have  stated  in  my  correspondence  as  to  the  object 
which  I  believed  should  be  aimed  at  in  the  war 
of  Italy. 

"  To  wrest  his  possessions  in  this  part  of  Europe 
from  the  Emperor,  to  lessen  the  power  of  the  Pope, 
since  we  can  no  longer  think  of  destroying  it 
altogether  ;*  these  were  the  principal  results  to 
which  I  pointed  as  the  fruits  of  our  victories. 

"  We  have  now  the  means  of  obtaining  these  two 
great  results.  We  hold  the  country  round  Milan  ; 
the  legations  of  Bologna  and  Ferrara  are  in  our  bands. 

"  To  remove  those  beautiful  and  fertile  provinces 
for  ever  from  the  domination  of  Austria  and  the 
Popes,  is  to  attain  as  completely  as  possible  the  aim 
that  we  ought  to  propose  to  ourselves. 

"It  now  becomes  necessary  to  inquire  under  what 
government  we  must  leave  these  countries,  which 
we  cannot  and  ought  not  to  retain. 

"That    which    has    been    done    in    Holland    may 

*  From  the  moment  that  we  treated  with  him  we  acknow- 
ledged lii^  Government,  and  we  could  not,  withoul  flagrarri 
i  ri  .i'li  "I   Faith,  b<  ei   •<>  ovei  I  hrow  it. 


A   DESPATCH  TO   THE  MINISTER.  139 

serve  us  as  a  guide  here.  We  have  delivered 
Lombardy,  Bologna  and  Ferrara  from  a  despotic 
flrovernment,  but  we  have  no  desire  to  violate  their 
independence.  It  is  for  their  inhabitants  and  not 
for  us  to  make  a  revolution,  and  this  distinction 
appears  to  me  to  be  of  the  greatest  importance. 
It  is  not  for  us  to  dictate  laws  for  them,  still  less 
to  impose  on  them  our  own.  Let  us  watch  their 
progress  in  the  exercise  of  the  power  we  have 
restored  to  them,  but  let  us  not  take  on  ourselves 
the  task  of  directing  it.  Let  them  seek,  while 
protected  and  defended  by  a  Power  which  watches 
over  their  safety,  an  organisation  suited  to  their 
genius,  and  their  religious  opinions,  in  harmony  with 
the  ideas  circulating  among  them  ;  our  part  is  to 
oppose  the  intrigues  of  a  party  who  would  bring 
them  again  under  the  yoke  that  we  have  broken, 
but  not  to  force  forward  fruits  of  a  kind  which 
the  climate  can  not  as  yet  produce. 

"  The  first  step  towards  this  result — the  only 
one  that  appears  to  be  desirable  —  would  be  a 
precise  statement  on  the  part  of  the  Directory, 
declaring  that  these  provinces  shall  never  be 
restored  to  their  former  masters  by  any  treaties 
concluded  by  the  Republic.  Until  this  is  done, 
we  can  hardly  hope  that  they  themselves  will  take 
a  decisive  part;  and  even  if  they  did,  they  would 
afterwards  find  themselves  without  sufficient  means 


140       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  3110  T  DE  ME  LI  TO. 

to  resist  the  attacks  which  might  be  made  upon 
them. 

"  The  Directory  is  probably  not  as  yet  prepared  to 
make  such  a  declaration.  A  moderate  policy  there- 
fore, such  as  I  have  indicated  above,  seems  to  me  the 
right  course  to  follow.  In  any  case,  I  think  we  must 
not  for  a  long  time  abandon  the  forms  of  military 
government  in  the  countries  we  have  conquered  in 
Italy  ;  and  that,  without  forcing  on  the  organisation 
of  a  new  national  government  which  would  be 
without  the  necessary  resources  for  self-maintenance, 
we  should  allow  it  to  develop  itself  under  our  eyes. 
And  when  a  general  peace  shall  have  secured  the 
independence  of  those  provinces,  it  will  still  be 
desirable  for  our  interests  to  maintain  our  garrisons 
in  them  for  a  long  time,  or  at  any  rate,  in  order  to 
avoid  any  reproach  from  other  nations  of  violating 
this  same  independence,  to  leave  some  French  troops 
in  the  pay  of  the  separate  governments  which  will 
have  been  formed.  Such,  in  my  opinion,  is  the 
only  means  of  consolidating  the  task  we  shall 
have  accomplished,  and  a  sound  policy  demands 
that,  amid  so  much  enmity  and  passion  directed 
against  us,  which  unhappily  will  not  lie  completely 
quieted  by  the  peace  in  Italy,  we  should  continue 
to  keep  before  her  eyes  a  portion  of  the  armies 
which  have  terrified  and  conquered  her. 

"  A    complete    revolution     in     Ilalv    is,    to    my 


A   DESPATCH  TO   THE  MINISTER.  141 

mind,  impossible.  If  in  the  present  state  of  public 
feeling  such  a  revolution  could  take  place,  it 
would  be  terrible,  owing  to  the  excesses  to  which 
fierce  and  unprincipled  men  would  abandon  them- 
selves. It  would  not  result  in  any  advantage  to 
humanity  or  in-  the  welfare  of  society,  because  it 
would  be  the  work  of  fanaticism  and  revenge. 

"  But  a  change  of  government  in  the  conquered 
States,. the  establishment  of  a  new  order  of  things, 
modified  according  to  the  surrounding  circumstances, 
is  both  possible  and  desirable." 

To  this  letter  I  received  no  reply.  Subsequent 
events  have  made  it  plain  that  the  ideas  of  mode- 
ration and  respect  for  the  independence  of  peoples, 
which  I  had  put  forward,  were  not  well  received. 

I  had  been  two  weeks  in  Rome,  and,  although  the 
business  of  the  execution  of  the  conditions  of  the 
armistice  was  going  on,  I  perceived  that  for  some 
days  past  the  Government  had  been  acting  in  the 
matter  with  dilatoriness  that  led  me  to  suspect  that, 
being  better  informed  than  I  of  what  was  taking 
place  in  Upper  Italy,  they  flattered  themselves  that 
the  reverses  we  were  sustaining  there  might  eventu- 
ally dispense  them  from  keeping  their  promises. 
The  darkest  rumours  were  secretly  spread  about, 
and,  as  I  had  no  means  of  refuting  them,  I  soon 
found  myself  in  a  position  as  false  as  it  was  dangerous. 


112       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Things  were  in  this  state,  when  Oacatilt,*  an 
agent  of  the  French  Republic,  who  had  remained 
in  Italy  without  ostensible  title  since  1703,  arrived 
at  Rome  from  headquarters.  He  brought  me  two 
letters,  one  from  Buonaparte  and  one  from  Berthier. 
The  first,  on  the  supposition  that  I  had  not  yet  left 
Florence,  advised  me  to  remain  there,  and  to  delegate 
to  Cacault  the  task  of  superintending  the  execution 
of  the  armistice  concluded  with  the  Pope.  This 
change  of  plans  was  evidently  the  result  of  some 
manoeuvres  of  Cacault,  who  had  wished  for  this  post, 
and  easily  persuaded  Buonaparte  that  the  numerous 
acquaintances  he  had  formed  at  Rome  would  afford 
him  better  means  of  filling  it,  and  other  advantages 
which  I  did  not  possess.  Besides  which,  Buonaparte, 
who  knew  my  feelings  about  the  Papal  Government, 
and  who  intended  to  treat  it  tenderly,  was  sure 
of  finding  in  Cacault  a  more  yielding  negotiator 
than  I ;  one  indeed,  inclined  by  his  own  private 
views  to  second  the  General's  views. 

The  other   letter,  Berthier's,  dated,  like  the  first, 

*  M.  Cacault  know  Italy,  where  ho  had  long  resided, 
perfectly  well.  Ho  had  boon  ordered  to  repair  to  Borne  after 
the  assassination  of  Bassoville,  bnt  not  having  succeeded  in 
getting  there,  lie  had  remained  at  Florence,  as  an  agent  of 
the  Republic,  but  without  official  position  until  my  arrival. 
Ee  successively  occupied  various  diplomatic  posts  in  Italy,  and 
on  liis  return  to  Prance  he  was  created  a  Senator  in  180.'?. 
lie  died  at  Clisson  in  1805, 


A   PERILOUS  JOURNEY.  143 

from  the  headquarters  at  Castiglione,  on  the  3rd 
Thermidor,  and  consequently  hefore  the  raising  of 
the  siege  of  Mantua,  was  full  of  confidence  and 
hope  of  fresh  successes.  But  as  it  was  already 
twelve  days  old,  and  more  recent  news  had 
reached  Rome,  it  had  become  valueless  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  any  opinion,  and  I  could  make 
no  kind  of  use  of  it. 

However,  in  spite  of  the  dangers  to  which  a 
journey  in  the  midst  of  the  general  ferment  pro- 
duced by  the  accounts  of  our  reverses,  magnified 
by  active  ill-will,  might  expose  me,  I  did  not 
hesitate  to  undertake  it.  I  handed  over  the 
business  to  Cacault,  and  started,  the  very  evening 
of  the  day  of  his  arrival,  on  my  return  journey 
to  Florence. 

I  had  not  been  misinformed  as  to  the  state  of 
feeling  throughout  the  Roman  territory.  I  therefore 
avoided  passing  through  Yiterbo,  where  I  knew 
that  the  excitement  was  greater  than  in  any  other 
part,  and  took  the  route  through  Civita-Castella, 
Narni,  Terni,  where  I  stayed  a  few  hours  in  order 
to  see  the  celebrated  cascade,  and  Spoleto,  where  I 
intended  to  pass  the  night.  But  it  was  impossible 
to  carry  out  my  plan ;  a  furious  mob  surrounded 
my  carriage,  and  if  I  had  not  displayed  coolness 
which  took  them  aback,  I  should  probably  have 
been  subjected  to  very  bad  treatment.     I  therefore 


144       MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MEL1T0. 

merely  changed  horses,  and  continued  my  journey 
by  way  of  Foligno,  Assisi,  and  Perugia .*  I  entered 
the  Tuscan  territory  through  Cortona  and  Arezzo, 
and  although  I  was  then  in  a  country  where  I  bore, 
so  to  speak,  a  sacred  character,  I  saw,  by  the  animus 
displayed  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  last-named  town, 
that  even  that  character  would  barely  serve  to 
protect  me  should  we  cease  to  be  conquerors.  As 
we  drove  from  the  gates  of  Arezzo,  stones  were 
thrown  at  my  carriage ;  but  it  was  dark,  and  this 
insult  had  no  serious  consequences ;  my  horses 
quickly  placed  me  beyond  reach.  Finally,  I  arrived 
at  Florence  on  the  17th  Thermidor,  year  IV. 
(August  4,  1796). 

Profound  consternation  prevailed  among  the  few 
French  who  were  then  at  Florence.  For  several 
days  the  most  disastrous  accounts  had  succeeded  each 
other  without  interruption,  and  my  first  interviews 
with  the  Tuscan  Government  convinced  me  that, 
if  exaggerated,  they  were  not  unfounded.  The 
populace  of  Florence,  who  until  then  had  taken 
no  decided  part,  now  awoke  from  the  calm  indif- 
ference which  characterised  them.  Inflamed  by 
the  monks,  they  began  to  imitate  the  Romans; 
they  also  had  their  miracles  and  their  prophecies. 

*  I  must  do  justices  hero  to  tho  Governor  of  Perugia,  who 
received  me  with  the  utmost  courtesy,  ami  watched  over  my 
safety  with  sedulous  care. 


EXCITEMENT  AT  FLOEENCE.  115 

Their  excessive  credulity  made  them  credit  the 
most  absurd  rumours ;  they  were  persuaded  that 
I  had  brought  back  Buonaparte  in  my  carriage 
wounded ;  that  he  had  died  at  my  house,  and 
that  I  had  buried  him  in  my  garden.  An  im- 
mense crowd  collected  about  my  door ;  I  was 
obliged  to  come  out  and  address  them,  and  I  had 
great  difficulty  in  preventing  their  forcing  their 
way  into  my  house  in  order  to  satisfy  their  stupid 
curiosity. 

This  state  of  alarm  lasted  for  twelve  days,  and 
during  that  time  the  Grand  Duke's  government 
acted  with  such  weakness  as  to  make  it  evident 
to  me  that,  far  from  wishing  to  repress  the  dis- 
turbance, it  intended  to  make  use  of  it  to  free 
itself  from  any  remaining  consideration  for  me,  in 
the  event  of  our  sustaining  further  reverses.  From 
the  moment  that  we  were  or  were  supposed  to  be 
no  longer  formidable,  it  would  have  been  useless 
to  appeal  for  security  to  treaties  which  had  simply 
been  extorted  by  fear. 

At  last,  on  the  23rd  and  24th  Thermidor  (10th 
and  11th  August),  couriers  despatched  from  head- 
quarters made  their  appearance,  and  put  an  end  to 
our  anxieties.  During  my  stay  in  Rome,  and  my 
journey  thence,  hostilities  had  recommenced  in 
Northern  Italy.  Wiirmser,  at  the  head  of  a  fresh 
Austrian  army,  had  forced  Buonaparte  to  raise  the 

VOL.    I.  L 


146       MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

siege  of  Mantua,  leaving  all  his  artillery  on  the 
spot,  But  this  check,  news  of  which  had  spread 
so  rapidly,  had  been  as  quickly  repaired  by  the 
wonderful  victories  of  Salo,  Castiglione,  and  Lonata 
(17th  and  18th  Thermidor).  Never  had  so  rapid 
and  complete  a  change  taken  place  in  war ;  never 
had  such  genius,  talent,  and  valour  been  displayed. 
A  campaign  of  less  than  ten  days'  duration 
had  reconquered  Italy  and  routed  all  the  pro- 
jects of  our  enemies.  But  in  proportion  as  the 
news  of  our  reverses  had  been  readily  believed, 
did  that  of  our  victories  meet  with  incre- 
dulity, and  it  was  only  after  the  lapse  of  several 
months,  and  when  the  surrender  of  Mantua  rati- 
fied, as  it  were,  the  bulletins  of  our  army,  that 
the  people  were  at  last  induced  to  credit  our 
success. 

For  the  time  being,  our  reverses  had  brought 
back  the  Powers  of  Italy  to  their  former  policy  and 
their  former  enmities.  The  negotiations  for  peace 
between  the  Pope  and  France  had  been  interrupted,* 
the  conditions  of  the  armistice  were  no  longer 
carried  out ;  the  Commissioners  whom  I  had  left  at 
Rome   had  withdrawn,  and   gone  back   to  Florence 

*  They  were  not  completely  broken   off  until  ;i  month  later, 
the  luin  th  complementary  day  of  year  I  V.  (  September  L'O,  1  7!Hi ). 

The  Pope  declined  any  arrangement,  nor  would  he  state  what 
were  llu-  modifications  he  would  have  desired  in  the  stipulations 
of  the  treaty. 


FBESH    VICTOBIES.  147 

to  wait  for  more  favourable  circumstances  and  fresh 
instructions. 

Cacault  only  remained,  and  was  carrying  on 
some  private  communications,  the  Papal  Government 
not  having  as  yet  decided  on  an  open  rupture. 

Meanwhile,  Buonaparte  having  pursued  Wurmser's 
army  into  the  valley  of  Adige  and  Brenta,  forced 
the  General  to  shut  himself  up  in  Mantua.  But 
another  army,  commanded  by  D'Alvinzi,  soon  made 
its  appearance  in  Italy,  and,  to  save  this  important 
stronghold,  opened  a  fresh  campaign,  in  the  course 
of  which  the  engagement  at  Areola  and  the  battles 
of  Rivoli  and  Favorita  immortalised  the  glory  of 
the  French  arms. 

While  military  events  were  thus  hastening  on, 
and  Victory,  still  undecided,  had  not  declared 
herself  for  either  side,  the  difficulties  of  my  posi- 
tion increased  daily.  The  Tuscan  people  openly 
displayed  their  dislike  to  the  French.  I  was 
grossly  insulted  several  times,  and  my  time  was 
entirely  occupied  in  hearing  and  laying  before  the 
Grand-Ducal  Government  the  complaints  which 
were  addressed  to  me  by  the  French  inhabitants 
of  Tuscany. 

At  length,  being  convinced  by  the  facts  before 
my  eyes  that  there  was  no  hope  of  security  for 
the  French,  nor  any  real  advantage  to  be  obtained 
from    our  victories  in   Italy,  so  long  as  the  House 

l  2 


148       MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

of  Austria  should  possess  any  of  its  territory, 
and  that  the  Pope's  Government  should  endure, 
I  resolved  on  sending  M.  Freville,  Secretary 
of  Legation,  to  Paris,  with  a  despatch,  in  which 
I  laid  before  the  Executive  Directory  my  obser- 
vations on  the  state  of  Italy,  and  stated  my 
views  of  the  direction  in  which  our  policy  should 
move. 

I  will  here  give  a  summary  of  the  plan  which  I 
had  drawn  up. 

I  pointed  out  that  Austria  and  Spain  had  been 
dominant  in  succession  in  Italy,  but  that  Prance 
had  always  tried  in  vain  to  establish  a  permanent 
influence  in  the  country ;  notwithstanding  her 
victories,  dominion  had  invariably  slipped  from 
her  grasp. 

"  Austria,  then,  was  exclusively  powerful  in  Italy 
before  the  war.  Venice  was  trembling,  Genoa  was 
sold,  Naples  shared  in  all  the  passions  of  Austria ; 
the  Pope  was  at  her  beck.  This  brilliant  structure 
was  overthrown  by  our  first  victories.  Austria 
wants  to  build  it  up  afresh  ;  she  calls  on  the  people 
as  auxiliaries  to  her  army  and  succeeds  in  inflaming 
them ;  she  is  preparing  another  Sicilian  Vesjxrs 
for  us  in  Italy.  The  various  Governments  approve 
:u id  second  her  views.  But  for  our  recent  victories 
we  should  be  irretrievably  lost. 

"At  the    first    wind  of  our    reverses,  neutrality 


THE  SITUATION.  149 


disappeared,  the  execution  of  treaties  was  suspended. 
We  have  therefore  acquired  no  guarantee  by  nego- 
tiation, and  we  can  only  count  on  force,  or  on  the 
establishment  of  a  political  system  which  will  be  a 
real  guarantee.  Now,  therefore,  is  the  time  at  which 
to  treat  this  question. 

"  The  first  idea  that  presents  itself  is  to  alter 
the  political  situation  of  Italy  entirely,  in  a  word, 
to  use  the  language  of  the  day,  to  revolutionise 
her.  I  have  opposed  that  solution  ;  insurrection, 
even  rebellion,  may  be  kindled  in  Italy,  but  not 
a  revolution. 

"  Let  that  part  of  Italy  which  we  have  conquered 
adopt  a  form  of  government  of  whatever  kind,  and 
let  us  protect  it,  provided  these  countries  detach 
themselves  altogether  from  Austria  and  the  Pope. 
Let  us  possess  nothing  ourselves  in  Italy,  but  let 
us  acquire  influence  there,  and  be  a  prepondera- 
ting power  only  in  the  conquered  part.  As  for  the 
rest  of  the  Peninsula,  we  must  have  another  allied 
Power  with  us,  which,  acting  on  Rome  and  Naples, 
will  keep  them  within  defined  bounds.  Let  Spain 
be  that  power. 

"  Spain  is  alive  to  her  true  interests  ;  she  has  just 
made  peace  and  allied  herself  with  France ;  she  will 
be  responsible  to  us  for  Southern  Italy.  Let  us  give 
to  her,  or  a  Prince  of  her  House,  those  possessions  of 
Austria  which  form  a  part  of  her  States  in  Northern 


150       MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Italy,  and  which  we  will  render  independent.*  By 
such  a  political  arrangement  Leghorn  would  be  in 
the  hands  of  Spain,  and  the  neutrality  of  that  port 
would  no  longer  be  an  empty  name.  This  plan 
involves,  it  is  true,  a  complete  rupture  with  the 
G-rand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  but  he  himself  has 
furnished  us  by  his  recent  behaviour  with  a  pretext 
for,  and  also  with  a  right  to  it." 

Freville  left  Florence  for  Paris  early  in  Fructidor, 
year  IV.  (middle  of  August,  1796).  He  had  several 
interviews  with  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
and  presented  a  further  development  of  my  pro- 
posals in  a  detailed  memorandum.  In  the  end  they 
were  not  adopted,  and  he  rejoined  me  at  Florence 
towards  the  end  of  Vendemiaire,  year  V.  (October 
1706).  He  was  the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  the 
Minister,  Charles  Lacroix,  very  flattering  to  me,  but 
altogether  evasive.  I  gathered  from  this  letter  and 
from  the  details  added  by  Freville  that  the  French 
Government  desired  to  remain  on  cool  terms  with 
Tuscany,  in  order  to  take  a  decisive  step  of  rupture 
or  alliance,  according  to  circumstances,  and  to  be  in 
a  position  to  justify  either  the  one  or  the  other.  It 
was  easy  to  satisfy  the  Government  in  this  respect. 

The  intercourse  between  the  two  Cabinets  had 
become   more   strained    than    ever;    recriminations 

This  plan  was  afterwards  adopted   by   Buonaparte,  when 
In  oreated  the  kingdom  <>f  Etruria  for  an  Enfant  of  Spain. 


RECRIMINATIONS.  151 


abounded  on  our  side  because  of  the  weakness 
of  the  Tuscan  Government,  which  allowed  its 
neutrality  to  be  disregarded,  and  showed  itself  alto- 
gether partial  towards  the  English ;  and  on  the 
side  of  Neri-Corsini,  the  Grand  Duke's  Minister  in 
Paris,  because  of  the  disrespect  with  which  the 
Tuscan  Government  treated  our  military  commanders 
and  troops  at  Leghorn.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
both  sides  were  in  the  right.  The  partiality  of 
the  Tuscan  Government  towards  the  English  was 
not  more  evident  than  the  behaviour  of  our  officers 
and  men  towards  the  authorities  of  the  country  was 
insulting.  They  acted  in  defiance  of  all  rules,  or, 
if  the  term  be  preferred,  in  defiance  of  every 
popular  prejudice.* 

Whether  my  views  as  to  the  line  of  policy  to 
be  pursued  in  Italy  had  awakened  some  personal 
dislike  towards  me,  or  whether  it  was  thought 
desirable  to  appoint  an  agent  in  Florence  more 
dependent  on  the  Commander-in-Chief  than  I  was 
— and  I  have  not  discovered  which  —  my  mission 
in  Tuscany  was  drawing  to  a  close.  Fre'ville  had 
scarcely  left  Paris,  when  a  decree  of  the  Directory, 
dated  the  2nd  Brumaire,  year  V.  (October  23,  1796), 

*  General  Hullin,  in  command  at  Leghorn,  celebrated  the 
fete  of  the  10th  of  August  there  with  a  brilliant  military  display. 
Nothing  could  be  more  offensive  to  the  Tuscans,  nor  more 
uncalled-for  by  the  French. 


152      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


changed  all  the  diplomatic  corps  in  Italy.  I  was 
appointed  Ambassador  to  the  Court  of  Sardinia ; 
Cacault  succeeded  me  at  Florence  as  Minister 
Plenipotentiary,  and  Joseph  Buonaparte  was  named 
resident  Minister  of  the  French  Republic  at  the 
Court  of  the  Infant-Duke  of  Parma.  I  did  not, 
however,  receive  the  decree  containing  my  new 
nomination  and  its  accompanying  instructions  until 
five  months  later.  I  was  destined  before  I  reached 
Turin  to  undertake  a  troublesome  mission,  for  which 
I  was  in  no  wise  prepared. 

Corsica,  which  had  been  delivered  to  the  English 
by  Paoli,  and  occupied  by  them  as  a  fourth  kingdom 
annexed  to  the  crown  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain, 
had  just  been  evacuated  by  its  new  masters.  They 
had  never  succeeded  in  subduing  the  interior  of  the 
island,  frequent  insurrections  had  kept  them  in  con- 
tinual alarm,  and  free  communication  between  the 
various  towns  could  only  be  effected  by  sea.  The 
victories  of  the  French  army  in  Italy,  under  the 
command  of  one  of  their  countrymen,  had  redoubled 
this  internal  ferment  in  Corsica,  and  the  English 
had  decided  on  entirely  abandoning  their  conquest. 
hi  September  170 G  they  withdrew  their  troops, 
and  also  removed  from  Corsica  their  chief  parti- 
sans,   such     as    General    Paoli,    Pozzo    di     Borgo, 

*  Tho  crown  of  Corsica  was  carried  to  London,  in  October 
IT'.M,  l>y  four  Corsica.!]  deputies. 


CORSICA.  153 


Beraldi  and  others,  who  sought  an  asylum  in 
England.  On  the  first  intelligence  of  the  English 
preparations  for  evacuating  the  island,  Buonaparte 
despatched  General  Gentili  thither  at  the  head  of 
two  or  three  hundred  banished  Corsicans,  and 
with  this  little  band  Gentili  took  possession  of  the 
principal  strongholds.  The  island  being  thus 
restored  to  the  rule  of  France,  it  became  indis- 
pensable to  provide  temporarily  for  its  civil  admistra- 
tion  and  to  prepare  for  the  establishment  of  the 
constitution.  Salicetti,  Commissioner  of  the  Directory, 
with  the  army  of  Italy,  hastened  to  assume  those 
functions,  and  had  already  repaired  to  Corsica, 
where  he  was  beginning  to  exercise  them.  But  the 
Directory  had  felt  that  it  would  not  do  to  leave 
them  in  the  hands  of  a  man  born  in  the  island, 
having  personal  injuries  to  avenge,  and  who,  even 
supposing  him  to  be  impartial  in  the  conduct  of 
affairs,  could  never  persuade  his  countrymen  that 
he  was  so.  An  administrator  had  therefore  to  be 
found,  who  should  be  an  entire  stranger  to  the 
country,  having  no  interests  but  that  of  restoring 
order,  healing  quarrels,  and  bringing  Corsica  as 
soon  as  possible  under  the  laws  and  institutions 
common  to  the  rest  of  France.  The  choice  fell  on 
me,  and  on  the  5th  Frimaire,  year  V.  (November 
25,  1706),  I  received  a  decree  of  the  Executive 
Directory,  dated  the   7th   Brumaire,  appointing  me 


154       MEMOIIiS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Commissioner-Extraordinary  of  the  Government  in 
Corsica,  and  ordering  me  to  proceed  thither  at  once. 
Accordingly  I  prepared  to  set  out,  and  left  the  Lega- 
tion in  the  hands  of  Fre'ville,  who  succeeded  me 
with  the  title  of  Charge'  d' Affaires. 

On  returning  from  Corsica  on  my  way  to  Turin, 
I  stayed  at  Florence  for  a  few  days,  hut  without 
any  official  character.  My  mission  therefore  came 
to  an  end  at  the  period  I  have  now  reached,  and 
as  I  shall  have  no  further  occasion  to  speak  ol 
Tuscany,  I  will  summarise  here  in  a  few  lines  the 
observations  I  made  on  the  country  during  a  resi- 
dence of  nearly  twenty  months. 

During  the  whole  time  that  Leopold  governed 
Tuscany,  her  prosperity  had  gone  on  increasing, 
her  population  had  sensibly  augmented  and  was 
still  tending  towards  increase  ;  while  free-trade  in 
grain  had  materially  added  to  the  products  of 
agriculture.  These  results  proved  the  beneficial 
influence  of  the  principles  adopted  by  Leopold,  while 
the  restrictions  subsequently  imposed  on  the  grain 
trade  have,  by  diminishing  the  products  of  the  earth, 
confirmed  the  disadvantages  of  a  prohibitive  system. 
The  events  of  the  French  Revolution,  which  brought 
war  and  all  its  attendant  evils  upon  Italy,  arrested 
the  progressive  impulse  that  Leopold  had  given  to 
Tuscany.  The  administration  which  succeeded  his, 
dreading   the  introduction  of  the   principles  which 


A   RETROGRESSIVE  POLICY.  155 


were  triumphant  in  France,  believed,  as  it  generally 
happens,   that  the  best  means  of  opposing  the  evil 
was  not  to  yield  points,  which  the  spirit  of  the  age 
and   the    new    ideas  which  were   circulating  freely 
made    it    necessary    to   yield,    in    order    to   satisfy 
the  needs   of  society,  but  to  withdraw  all  that  had 
been   hitherto   granted,   and   to   return   completely 
to  the  past.     In  all  Leopold's  institutions  it  detected 
the  germs  of  Revolution,  and  it  could  think  of  no 
better  way  to  kill  those  germs  than  by  destroying 
the     institutions.      The    nobility    and    the    clergy, 
whose    privileges    had   been    restricted   and  whose 
alarm  increased    as  the  Revolution    made    progress 
in    France,    applauded    this   course    of    action,    and 
aided    it   with    all    their    influence.       Nevertheless, 
it   would    be    an    error    to   believe   that    society   in 
general    attached   much    importance    to  these  ques- 
tions, and  a   still  greater  mistake  to  conclude  that 
the  people  took  any  active  part  in  them.     With  the 
exception  of  a  few  movements  promoted  with  great 
difficulty  at  critical  junctures,  and  of  which  I  have 
had  occasion  to  speak,   the  prevailing  aspect  of  all 
classes  was  that  of  indolence.     For  two  centuries  and 
a  half,  Florence  had  lost  the  antique  energy  which 
had   distinguished    that   noble    city    in   the    stormy 
times  of  the  Republic.     Her  peaceable  inhabitants, 
deprived  of  all  their  rights,  were  no  longer  the  dis- 
trustful citizens,  whom  love  of  freedom,  and  of  inde- 


15G       MEMO  IBS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

pendence  had  so  often  roused  to  the  most  courageous 
measures  and  the  most  generous  sacrifices.  They 
were  no  longer  so  many  illustrious  Mascenas  who 
offered  magnaminous  hospitality  to  science  and 
letters.  Almost  everywhere  my  eye  fell  on  men 
basking  in  a  beautiful  climate,  occupied  only  in  the 
dull  details  of  a  monotonous  life,  and  vegetating 
beneath  a  beneficent  sky.  As  for  the  women,  a 
mixture  of  piety  and  intrigue  was,  as  it  is 
throughout  all  Italy,  their  distinguishing  character- 
istic. Morals  were  extremely  relaxed,  but  as  that 
relaxation  was  universal  and,  singularly  enough,  the 
result  of  a  generally  admitted  social  convention,  it 
gave  rise  to  no  criticism,  and  so  long  as  a  woman 
kept  on  good  terms  with  her  cavaliere  servente,  and 
that  she  used  some  secrecy  and  a  sort  of  decency 
in  her  infidelities  towards  him,  she  enjoyed  a 
spotless  reputation.  The  domestic  habits  of  Fiance 
were  therefore  regarded  as  not  a  little  ridiculous ; 
and  although  the  report  of  the  disappearance  of 
all  modesty  from  our  manners  since  the  beginning 
of  the  llevolution  had  preceded  us  at  Florence, 
and  turned  the  public  mind  against  us,  our 
women  were,  to  our  great  astonishment,  set  down 
as  in  tolerable  prudes,  and  their  1 1  n^l  >:i  iiclts'  conduct 
in  accompanying  them  in  public,  contrary  to  the 
customs  of  the  country,  was  considered  unpardon- 
able.      I>ul     it'    the     ladies    of    Florence     were    nol 


TUSCAN  MORALS.  107 


very  scrupulous  as  to  conjugal  fidelity,  they  were 
scrupulous  in  inverse  proportion  as  to  religious 
practices,  and  a  woman  who,  with  a  perfectly  easy 
conscience,  violated  conjugal  duties  which  are  held 
sacred  everywhere  else,  would  not  eat  meat  on  a  day 
of  abstinence  for  any  consideration.  Nor  were  the 
other  duties  of  religion  observed  less  rigorously. 
They  interfered  a  little,  it  is  true,  with  the  pleasures 
of  intrigue ;  but  they  also  served  as  a  pretext  for 
escaping  from  wearisome  bonds,  and  it  was  usually 
at  Easter  that  old  intimacies  were  broken  off 
and  new  ones  formed.  It  was  also  at  that  holy 
season  that  the  husband's  consent  to  a  change  of 
cavalier e  servente  was  asked  and  obtained,  for 
changes  of  this  kind  are  family  affairs. 

I  do  not,  however,  pretend  to  include  the  whole 
of  society  in  this  generalisation.  No  one  has  had 
better  opportunities  than  I  of  knowing  what  remark- 
able exceptions  were  to  be  found  at  that  time  in 
Florence  and  the  other  principal  towns  of  Tuscany ; 
men  and  women  of  sterling  merit  and  incapable  of 
the  weaknesses  I  have  commented  on.  The  famous 
physician  Fontana,  MM.  Fabbroni,  Fossombroni 
and  Paoli,  who  have  borne  great  names  in  natural 
science  and  mathematics ;  M.  Pignotti,  a  writer 
of  charming  fables ;  M.  Galuzzi,  who  wrote  a 
history  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Tuscany,  and  other 
learned  and  literary  men,  did  honour  to  Tuscany  and 


158  MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  BE  MEL1T0. 

preserved  to  her  a  remnant  of  her  ancient  renown. 
Several  ladies,  Madame  Fabbroni  among  the 
number,  were  distinguished  for  their  talents  and 
cultivation,  and  would  have  shone  with  brilliant 
lustre  in  any  country  and  in  any  society. 


(     159     ) 


CHAPTER  V. 

Letter  from  General  Buonaparte — The  Author  embarks  at  Leg- 
horn and  arrives  at  Bastia,  where  he  finds  Salicetti — He  is 
instructed  to  adopt  a  system  of  conciliation,  and  to  endeavour 
to  reconcile  party  divisions — He  publishes  a  proclamation 
accordingly — Political  situation  of  Corsica — Some  seditious 
risings  are  repressed  and  tranquillity  re-established — Ad- 
ministration and  laws  organised,  first  in  the  department  of 
Golo,  and  next  in  that  of  Liamone- — Journey  from  Bastia  to 
Ajaccio  by  Corte  and  the  Col  de  Guizzavano,  and  from  A jaccio 
to  Bonifacio  by  Gartena. 

On  receiving  the  decree  of  the  Directory  which 
appointed  me  Commissioner  Extraordinary  of  the 
Government  in  Corsica,  accompanied  by  instructions 
bearing  date  the  12th  Brumaire,  I  had  hastened  to 
inform  Buonaparte  of  my  appointment,  and  to  ask  his 
advice  respecting  the  best  way  of  fulfilling  a  mission 
whose  difficulties  I  fully  recognised.  He  sent  me  the 
following  reply : 

"  Headquarters,  Verona. 

"  3d  Frimaire,  year  V. 

"  I  have  received,  Citizen  Minister,  the  letter  you 
wrote  me  before  your  departure  for  Corsica.     The 


160      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

mission  you  are  about  to  undertake  is  an  extremely 
difficult  one.  Until  all  the  work  here  is  finished,  it 
will  not  be  possible  to  send  any  troops  to  Corsica. 
You  will  find  General  Gentili  in  commaud  of  this 
division  there.  He  is  an  honourable  man,  and  gene- 
rally esteemed  in  the  country.  The  people  of  Corsica 
are  difficult  to  understand,  their  imagination  being 
very  lively,  and  their  passions  extremely  active. 
"  I  wish  you  health  and  happiness. 

"  Buonaparte." 

This  letter  was  not  encouraging.  The  General 
entered  into  no  details,  and  sent  me  no  help  either  in 
men  or  money.  Nevertheless  I  did  not  despair  of 
success,  and  1  embarked  at  Leghorn  on  the  11th 
Frimaire,  year  Y.  (10th  December,  1796). 

We  were  obliged  to  put  into  harbour  at  Capraja  * 
to  avoid  the  English  cruisers,  and  I  was  blockaded 
there  for  six  days.  I  decided  at  last  to  leave  the 
Aviso  and  to  embark  on  board  a  felucca,  and  I  took 
advantage  of  a  calm,  which  detained  the  English  ships, 
to  row  across  the  canal  between  Capraja  and  Corsica. 
Tn  this  way  I  landed  on  the  22nd  Frimaire  on  the  east- 
ern coast  of  the  island,  near  Erba  Lunga,  five  miles 
from  Bastia,  whither  I  proceeded  on  the  following  day. 

I  bad  just  left  one  of  the  most  civilised  cities  in 

*  A  small    island  to  tho  west  of  Leghorn,  about  half-way 
between  the  mainland  and  the  inland  of  Corsica. 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  CORSICA.  161 

Italy,  and  it  was  with  strange  sensations  that  I 
found  myself  in  a  country  whose  wild  aspect, 
barren  mountains,  and  inhabitants  all  clothed 
alike  in  coarse  brown  cloth,  contrasted  so  strongly 
with  the  rich  and  smiling  country  of  Tuscany  and 
with  the  comfortable,  I  might  almost  say  the  elegant, 
dress  worn  by  the  fortunate  cultivators  of  that  fertile 
soil.  My  disembarkation,  on  a  dark  winter's  night, 
on  an  almost  uninhabited  coast,  where  I  had  found 
no  better  shelter  than  a  smoky  cabin,  had  inspired 
me  with  gloomy  forebodings.  But  a  few  days  passed 
on  the  island  were  sufficient  to  accustom  me  to 
its  aspect,  which  had  at  first  seemed  so  repulsive. 
The  rich  natural  vegetation  clothing  the  hills  that 
slope  downwards  to  the  sea,  the  beauty  of  the  sky 
and  the  mildness  of  the  climate,  in  a  season  which 
is  often  very  severe  in  France  and  Northern  Italy, 
speedily  dispelled  my  unfavourable  impressions. 

I  found  many  reasons,  subsequently,  to  convince 
me  that  in  the  variety  of  its  sites,  the  characteristic 
grandeur  of  its  mountains,  and  the  majestic  solitude 
of  its  forests,  Corsica  need  not  fear  competition  with 
the  countries  most  renowned  for  beauties  of  the  same 
kind,  whether  the  traveller  studies  it  with  the  eye  of 
an  artist  or  that  of  a  naturalist. 

On  my  arrival  at  Bastia,  I  found  Salicetti  there. 
He  told  me  that  he  had  been  informed  of  my  ap- 
pointment, that  he  had  put  everything  in  training  so 

VOL.    I.  M 


162      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

as  to  secure  me  a  favourable  reception,  and  that  I  mi  girt 
rely  on  bis  influence  and  that  of  his  friends  for  the 
success  of  my  mission.  I  expressed  my  gratitude  for 
his  zeal,  but  I  was  obliged  to  let  him  know  that  my  in- 
structions prescribed  a  different  course  of  action  from 
that  which  he  had  adopted.  I  told  him  that  I  could 
not  introduce  the  Constitutional  regime  into  the 
island  without  having  first  assured  myself  that  the 
state  of  popular  feeling  and  opinion  would  allow  of 
its  establishment  without  danger  to  the  public  tran- 
quillity ;  and  that  I  should  therefore  adjourn  the 
meeting  of  the  Primary  Assemblies,  and  the  exercise 
of  the  political  rights  of  the  inhabitants,  until  I  should 
have  acquired  that  assurance.  And,  indeed,  such  a 
delay  was  warranted  by  common  prudence  :  it  was 
evident  that  if  the  Constitutional  system  were  sud- 
denly adopted,  authority  would  fall,  without  any 
counterpoise,  into  the  bauds  of  all  those  who,  having 
left  the  island  in  order  to  escape  from  the  influence 
of  Paoli  and  of  the  English,  were  now  returning 
in  crowds,  full  of  vengeance  against  such  of  their 
countrymen  as,  having  taken  the  opposite  side,  had 
remained  in  the  island,  and  were  necessarily  ex- 
cluded from  all  public  employment.  Thus  nothing 
could  have  been  more  detrimental  to  the  end  which 
T  proposed  to  attain,  that  is  to  say,  the  effacement 
of  those  sharp  divisions  so  as  to  blend  them  in  sub- 
mission Lo  the  Constitutional  system,  than  an  attempt 


SALICETTFS  VIEWS.  163 

to  establish  that  system  in  the  midst  of  so  much 
enmity  and  so  many  ardent  passions.  Salicetti  ad- 
mitted that  this  system  might  have  some  advantages, 
but  he  looked  on  it  as  a  mark  of  weakness  on  the 
part  of  the  Directory.  He  thought  that  conciliatory 
dealings  with  men,  who,  according  to  him,  had  be- 
trayed their  country  and  the  cause  of  Liberty,  was 
a  sort  of  concession  likely  to  disgust  patriots  and 
occasion  more  internal  difficulties  than  it  would 
prevent.  General  Gentili,  a  most  upright  man,  and 
raised  by  his  high  character  and  his  social  position 
above  every  suspicion  of  intrigue,  was  in  favour,  on 
the  contrary,  of  the  course  that  I  proposed  adopting, 
and  which,  in  fact,  I  could  not  relinquish  without 
deviating  from  the  intentions  of  the  Government. 
I  therefore  decided  on  making  known  at  once  by 
a  proclamation,*  which  I  published  on  the  24th 
Frimaire,  year  V.  (December  14,  1796),  my  arrival 
in  the  island,  and  the  course  I  intended  to  pursue. 
A  few  days  afterwards,  Salicetti  left  Bastia,  to  return 
to  the  continent,  and  I  was  then  enabled  to  exercise 
freely  the  authority  confided  to  me. 

Before  entering  into  details  of  my  operations,  I 
will  devote  a  few  lines  to  the  political  situation  of  the 
island  at  the  time  of  my  arrival.  This  is  necessary 
in  order  that  a  correct  estimate  of  my  conduct  may 
be  formed. 

*  This  proclamation  appears  in  the  '  Moniteur,'  of  the  19th 
Nivose,  year  V. 

M    2 


164      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  3II0T  DE  MEIITO. 

The  inhabitants  of  Corsica  may  be  represented,  at 
the  time  of  my  arrival  there,  as  divided  into  three 
classes  :  first,  that  of  the  Republicans  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  France  and  were  then  returning  to  their 
native  country,  with  claims  to  the  national  gratitude, 
and  to  demand  indemnity  for  the  losses  they  had  sus- 
tained ;  secondly,  that  of  the  inhabitants  who  had 
remained  on  the  island,  but  had  not  been  employed 
by  the  English  in  any  public  capacity,  and  many  of 
whom  had  been  ill-treated  on  account  of  the  attach- 
ment to  France  which  they  often  manifested ;  and, 
thirdly,  that  of  the  partisans  of  Paoli,  who  had 
served  the  English  and  taken  advantage  of  the 
period  of  their  supremacy  to  enrich  themselves, 
and  to  plunder  or  devastate  the  property  of  their 
absent  fellow-citizens. 

It  behoved  us  to  adapt  ourselves  to  a  people  com- 
posed of  such  opposite  elements,  and  above  all  to 
prevent  collisions  between  them  ;  and  it  was  therefore 
necessary  to  renounce  the  idea  of  any  settlement 
which  would  have  brought  individual  interests  into 
opposition,  in  a  country  where  public  spirit  had  no 
existence  and  where  those  interests  predominated  over 
all  others.  I  had  already  acted  in  this  sense,  by  sus- 
pending all  popular  meetings;  and  to  this  preliminary 
measure  I  added  another,  which  was  dictated  by  pru- 
dence. On  proclaiming  a  general  amnesty,  I  was 
careful  not  to    mention  the  exceptions  which  the  Exe- 


THE  GENERAL  AMNESTY.  165 

cutive  Directory  had  made  to  this  act  of  clemency. 
These  comprised,  first,  the  deputies  who  had  carried 
the  crown  of  Corsica  to  the  King  of  England  in 
London ;  *  secondly,  the  members  of  the  Council  of 
the  Viceroy  ;  "j"  thirdly,  the  emigres  who  were  described 
as  such  on  the  lists  of  the  Departments.  But  as  these 
exceptions  were  meaningless  as  regards  the  two  first- 
named  classes,  none  of  the  individuals  composing 
them  being  at  that  time  in  the  island,  so  that,  con- 
sequently, they  could  only  fall  on  the  third,  I  soon 
perceived  how  dangerous  and  impolitic  it  would  be  to 
make  them  known.  Indeed,  the  emigration  had  but 
j  ust  taken  place  at  the  time  when  Paoli,  who  had  been 
recalled  to  his  country  by  a  decree  of  the  Constituent 
Assembly  j  came  back  to  the  island,  where  he  seized 

*  This  deputation,  consisting  of  four  persons,  fulfilled  its 
mission  in  October  1794.  The  King  of  England  had  been 
recognised  as  King  of  Corsica  by  the  Constitution  of  June  19, 
1794  (see  Chapters  xi.  and  xii.  of  that  Constitution).  Corsica 
had  been  handed  over  to  the  English  on  May  21,  1794,  in  virtue 
of  a  capitulation  concluded  with  Admiral  Hood,  and  signed  by 
Stephen  Monti,  President  of  the  Department  of  Corsica,  John 
Baptist  Galeazzini,  Mayor  of  Bastia,  Charles  Francis  Emmanuel 
Couthaud  and  John  Baptist  Franceschi,  adjutants-general  of  the 
French  army. 

t  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot.     He  was  at  first  Lieutenant  of  the  kin<r 

1  O 

in  Corsica,  and  afterwards  received  the  title  and  authority  of 
Viceroy.  He  was  assisted  by  a  Council  of  State,  consisting  in 
great  measure  of  Corsicans.  Paoli  was  a  member  of  the  Council. 
J  This  decree  is  dated  November  30,  1789.  Paoli  returned 
to  Cortdca  as  a  simple  citizen  only ;  but  the  ascendency  be 
exercised  over  his  countrymen  rendered  him  virtually  sovereign. 
The  National  Convention  decreed  an  indictment  against  him  on 


166      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

the  reins  of  power,  and,  by  violence  and  threats, 
forced  all  those  who  would  not  recognise  his  authority 
or  serve  his  projects,  to  expatriate  themselves. 

How  was  it  possible,  then,  to  inflict  the  terrible  pen- 
alties adjudged  against  the  emigres,  on  those  who  had 
only  fled  from  the  tyranny  of  a  man  who  had  seized 
on  illegitimate  power,  and  at  the  same  time,  by  a 
verbal  equivoque,  to  pardon  those  who  had  supported 
the  usurper,  and  afterwards  aided  him  in  selling  part 
of  the  territory  of  the  Republic  to  England  ?  This 
omission,  for  which  I  was  not  censured  by  the  Go- 
vernment, facilitated  my  first  operations,  and  though 
it  gave  rise  to  discontent  among  those  pretended 
patriots  who  were  already  casting  their  eyes  on  the 
property  of  the  emigre's,  that  they  might  indemnify 
themselves  for  the  losses  they  had  sustained,  it  was 
generally  acknowledged  as  well  done,  and  I  obtained 
the  confidence  of  the  public  by  means  of  it  * 

April  2,  1793,  and  on  the  17th  of  the  following  July  declared 
him  a  traitor  to  the  country.  Paoli  revenged  himself  by  deliver- 
ing the  Island  of  Corsica  to  the  English,  who  soon  abandoned  it, 
and  merely  offered  him  a  rofugo  in  London,  whore  he  died  on 
February  3,  1807. 

*  I  ought,  howovor,  to  state  that,  just  as  tho  Primary 
Assemblies  were  about  to  meet,  that  is  to  say,  on  1st  Germinal, 
I  consented,  on  tho  representations  of  the  Contral  Administration 
of  the  Department  of  Golo,  to  have  these  exceptions  put  in  force 
against  some  lew  persons  included  in  them,  in  order  to  avert 
the  disturbances  which  their  presence  would  not,  havo  failed  in 
excite  in  the  Primary  Assemblies.  For  this  severity  I  was 
denounced  ;  with  how  little  reason  I  have  already  shown. 


INSUBBECTIONABY  MOVEMENTS.  1G7 

I  could  not,  however,  prevent  some  insurrectionary 
movements  winch  took  place  in  a  part  of  the  island 
known  by  the  name  of  Balanga.*  These  movements, 
set  on  foot  by  some  former  partisans  of  England  who 
considered  themselves  not  sufficiently  guaranteed  by 
the  recent  amnesty,  had  assumed  a  rather  serious 
character.f  I  felt  the  necessity  of  suppressing  them 
promptly  by  an  immediate  expedition,  and  as,  to 
my  great  regret,  the  health  of  General  Gentili 
did  not  allow  him  to  take  the  command,  I  deter- 
mined to  proceed  in  person  to  the  spot  with 
Adjutant- General  Franceschi,  who  directed  the 
military  movements.  The  rapidity  of  our  march, 
and  our  unexpected  arrival  at  Alziprato,  a  Ca- 
puchin Convent,  situated  in  the  mountains,  and 
which  was  the  centre  of  the  insurrection,  imme- 
diately dispersed  the  rebels,  with  whom  we  ex- 
changed a  few  shots  only.  Order  was  quickly  re- 
established. By  a  further  proclamation,  which  I  pub- 
lished at  Calvi  the  21st  Nivose,  I  calmed  the  fears 
of  the  inhabitants  respecting  the  consequences  of 
these  seditious  risings,  and  thenceforth  tranquillity 
was  restored.  Nor  was  it  interrupted  for  a  single 
moment  during  the  remainder  of  my  stay  in  Corsica. 

*  Koussa,  a  harbour  on  the  west  coast  of  Corsica,  is  the  capital 
of  this  province. 

f  A  report  had  also  been  spread  that  the  French  were  about 
to  abandon  Corsica,  and  that  the  English  were  bringing  back 
Paoli  with  a  considerable  force. 


168      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


Having  strengthened  and  consolidated  my  posi- 
tion by  the  success  of  this  expedition,  I  returned  to 
Bastia,  and  occupied  myself  exclusively  with  the 
civil  organisation  of  the  country,  beginning  with  the 
department  of  Golo,  in  which  I  resided*  Profiting 
by  the  information  which  I  had  acquired  in  the 
course  of  a  month,  I  had,  before  my  departure  for 
Calvi,  nominated  the  individuals  to  compose  the  cen- 
tral administration  of  this  department,  so  that,  had 
my  absence  been  prolonged,  the  town  and  department 
would  have  been  provided  with  a  regular  govern- 
ment. The  new  administrators  had  completely 
justified  my  confidence,  and  I  ascertained  during 
my  journey  that  my  selection  of  men  was  gene- 
rally approved.  This  first  success  was  encouraging, 
and  I  believed  that  I  ought  no  longer  to  delay 
the  organisation  of  the  law-courts,  which  was  now 
urgently  required.  I  proceeded  therefore  to  instal 
the  judges  I  had  appointed  by  a  decree  of  the  16th 
Nivose,  year  V.  (January  5,  1707),  and  also,  by 
decrees  passed  on  the  Gth  Pluviose  (January  26) 
to  institute  the  Tribunal  of  Commerce,  the  Munici- 
palities, and  the  Magistrature,  in  the  different  cantons. 
A  regular  order  of  things  being  thus  established 
in  the  department  without  opposition,  I  ceded  to  the 

*  Corsica  was  then  divided  into  two  departments,  Golo  and 
Liamone,  lli<'  names  of  tho  two  principal  rivers  by  which  they 
are  reaped i\ elj  watered. 


COBSICAN  SCENERY.  169 

administrations  and  tribunals,  in  succession,  the 
powers  I  had  exercised  extraordinarily,  and  I  pre- 
pared to  leave  the  department  of  Grolo  for  that  of 
Liamone,  of  which  Ajaccio  is  the  capital. 

I  left  Bastia  on  the  10th  Pluviose  (January  20). 
I  first  crossed  the  beautiful  plain  which  extends  from 
Bastia,  north  and  south,  to  the  banks  of  the  Golo. 
Thence  a  road,  excellent  throughout  its  whole  length, 
made  since  the  conquest,  leads  to  Corte  up  the  valley 
of  the  Golo,  which  is  crossed  by  a  very  fine  bridge 
at  about  thirty  miles  from  Corte. 

The  variety  of  a  landscape  which  at  every  step 
assumes  a  new  aspect,  renders  the  road  from  the 
point  at  which  the  traveller  reaches  the  river,  until 
he  arrives  at  Corte,  very  agreeable ;  but  it  has  the 
drawback  of  passing  through  no  inhabited  parts,  it 
merely  skirts  villages  on  the  right  and  left  without 
entering  them.  The  mania  of  making  the  directest 
and  shortest  roads  had  been  imported  from  France 
into  Corsica  by  the  engineers,  very  skilful  men  no 
doubt,  who  had  made  this  one,  and  a  road,  which  by 
a  circuit  of  perhaps  two  or  three  miles  would  have 
given  life  to  several  villages,  has  been  of  no  service 
to  civilisation,  whose  progress  it  would  undoubtedly 
have  accelerated,  had  it  been  constructed  on  a 
different  plan. 

The  town  of  Corte,  situated  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains   in   the  centre  of  Corsica,  cou tains  from 


170       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

three  to  four  thousand  inhabitants.  The  houses  of 
which  it  consists  are  scattered  over  several  low  hills, 
and  present  no  regularity  of  aspect.  Its  situation  is 
wonderfully  picturesque  :  two  rivers,  or  rather  two 
torrents,  celebrated  for  the  clearness  of  their  waters, 
the  Tavignano  and  the  Restonica,  the  latter  uniting 
with  the  former,*  water  the  surrounding  country.  Its 
air  is  healthy  at  all  seasons,  and  its  situation  had  caused 
it  to  be  selected  as  the  seat  of  the  Administration 
when  the  island  consisted  of  only  one  Department. 
The  English  during  their  occupation  had  also  ap- 
pointed it  as  the  residence  of  the  Viceroy,  and  the 
seat  of  the  Corsican  Parliament.  But  since  the 
return  of  the  French,  and  the  division  of  the  island 
into  two  Departments,  Corte  had  lost  all  its  former 
importance.  I  stayed  there  for  two  days,  and  after 
settling  some  business,  I  left  the  town  for  Ajaccio. 

The  carriage-road  at  that  time  ended  at  Corte,  and 
from  thence  as  far  as  the  coasts  of  the  Gulf  of 
A  jaccio,  there  were  but  narrow  pathways  which  were 
barely  practicable  on  horseback.  The  department  of 
Golo  is  separated  from  that  of  Liamone  by  the  lofty 
chain  of  mountains  situate  in  the  centre  of  the  island, 
and  from  which  rise  the  two  peaks  of  Monte  Eotondo 

*  Both  theso  torrents  descend  from  Monte  Kotondo,  and,  united 
under  the  name  of  tho  Tavignano,  flow  into  the  sea  near  Alexia, 
tho  ancient  Alalia,  Pounded,  according  to  Herodotus,  by  the 
Phocians. 


COBSICAN  SCENERY.  171 

and  Monte  d'  Oro,  which  both  reach  a  height  of 
between  1300  and  1400  fathoms  above  the  level 
of  the  sea.  This  chain  is  traversed  by  a  passage, 
called  Foce  di  Guizzavona,  which  may  be  perhaps 
400  fathoms  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

It  becomes    impracticable    at  times  from  the  ac- 
cumulation of  snow,  and  is  frequently  even  dangerous 
during  the  terrible  storms  so  common  in  the  Alps,  and 
to  which  the  mountains  of  Corsica  are  equally  liable. 
The  passage  was  free  at  the  time  of  my  arrival, 
and  I  had  full  opportunities  of  admiring  the  wild  and 
magnificent  landscape  spread  out  before  me.     The 
slopes  of  the  Col,  on  the  side  of  Yivario,  a  village 
situated  at  the  foot  of  the  Foce,  and  from  whence  the 
ascent   of  the   sides   of    the    mountain    begins,  are, 
as  well  as  those  that  lead  down  towards  the  Gulf 
of  Ajaccio,  clothed  with  most  beautiful  vegetation, 
almost   wholly   with    the    kind    of    pine    special  to 
Corsica,   the   Pino   Caricia    (pinus  pinaster).      This 
magnificent  tree  sometimes  attains  a  height  of  more 
than  720  feet,  and  in  the  distribution  of  its  branches 
and  the  beauty  of   its   leaf,  is    rivalled,  among  the 
numerous    family   of   pines,  only    by  the   Cedar    of 
Lebanon,  or    Lord    Weymouth's     Pine-tree     (pinus 
strobus)    when    growing   in   their  native  soil.     The 
Col  properly  so  called,  or  the  Foce  di  Guizzavona, 
consists  of  a  flat    table-land  which  may  be  half  a 
mile  in  length  by  about  a  quarter  in  width. 


172        MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


A  tower,  with  a  facing  and  moat,  which  forms 
a  little  fortress,  has  been  erected  there  and  is 
sometimes  occupied  by  a  small  garrison  for  the 
purpose  either  of  watching  over  the  safety  of 
travellers,  or  in  times  of  disturbance  of  supporting 
military  expeditions  into  the  mountains,  and  pre- 
serving communications  between  the  northern  and 
southern  parts  of  the  island.  This  little  fort  was 
deserted  and  almost  in  ruins  when  I  passed  through 
the  Col,  but  I  had  it  restored  subsequently. 

After  the  table-land  has  been  crossed  the  descent 
commences,  and  from  its  southern  extremity  the 
waters  fall  into  the  Western  Sea,  which  soon  be- 
comes visible  through  the  trees,  on  the  verge  of  the 
horizon.  The  mountain  torrents  rushing  and  bound- 
ing over  granite  rocks,  the  sound  of  their  waters, 
the  whistling  of  the  wind  as  it  shakes  and  bends 
the  gigantic  trunks  of  the  pine-trees,  all  give  a 
charm  to  the  descent  which  make  the  traveller  for- 
get the  fatigue  and  danger  of  a  path  which  is  safe 
only  for  the  Corsican  horse  and  the  mule.  The 
spectacle  was  new  and  interesting  to  me  and  to 
most  of  my  companions,  and  we  arrived  without 
accident  at  Bogognano,  where  the  steep  slope 
comes  to  an  end.  We  were  then  eighteen  miles 
from  Ajaccio,  and  I  reached  that  town  on  the  13th 
Huviose  (February  1). 

Before  I  entered  the  town,  I  saw  a  number  of  Ihe 


JOSEPH  BUONAPARTE.  173 


inhabitants,  all  of  them  on  horseback,  coming  to  wel- 
come me  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country. 
Among  them  was  Joseph  Buonaparte,  the  elder 
brother  of  the  General.  I  met  him  with  great 
eagerness.  His  mild  and  refined  countenance,  affable 
manners,  and  polished  language,  prepossessed  me  in 
his  favour.  I  may  say,  that  I  date  from  this  our 
first  meeting  the  sincere  affection  I  have  ever  enter- 
tained for  him,  and  which  the  intimacy  which  sub- 
sequently existed  between  us  has  only  served  to 
strengthen  and  increase.  I  attached  myself  to  him, 
as  will  be  seen,  in  all  the  different  phases  of  his 
fortune  ;  and  his  friendship  has  been  the  reward  of 
my  fidelity. 

So  long  as  I  was  settled,  I  occupied  myself  unre- 
mittingly with  the  organisation  of  the  department 
of  which  Ajaccio  is  the  chief  place.  I  met  with 
fewer  difficulties  than  in  the  department  of  Golo. 
The  confidence  I  felt  in  M.  Joseph  Buonaparte 
greatly  alleviated  my  labours  ;  I  followed  his  advice 
in  the  various  appointments  I  had  to  make,  and 
I  have  had  reason  to  congratulate  myself  on 
the  result.  Every  nomination  that  I  made  by  his 
counsel  has  been  since  confirmed  by  the  approbation 
of  the  public.  Nevertheless,  although  my  selection 
of  persons  was  complete  within  a  week  after  my 
arrival  at  Ajaccio,  I  did  not  think  it  well  to  make 
the  list  known    until  I  had    inspected    the   greater 


174      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  3II0T  BE  MELITO. 


portion  of  the  department.  I  wished  to  collect  on 
the  spot  information  respecting  the  persons  whom  I 
proposed  to  appoint  to  various  offices.  I  wished  espe- 
cially to  profit  by  the  judgment  of  General  Grentili 
on  so  important  a  matter.  He  had  preceded  me 
to  Ajaccio,  and  had  agreed  to  accompany  me  on  the 
journey  I  intended  to  make  into  the  interior  as  far 
as  Bonifacio.  I  bade  a  temporary  adieu  to  M.  Joseph 
Buonaparte,  who  remained  at  Ajaccio,  and  started 
on  the  lOthPluviose  (February  8)  for  Sartena. 

The  district  through  which  I  had  to  pass  in  order 
to  reach  Bonifacio  is  one  of  the  most  uncultivated  in 
Corsica.  Entirely  separated  from  the  great  line  of 
communication  exsisting  between  Bastia  and  Ajaccio, 
lying  away  from  the  route  of  any  traveller,  it  retains 
traces  of  the  character  of  its  ancient  inhabitants,  and, 
like  Niolo  and  Fiumorbo,  districts  also  placed  beyond 
the  reach  of  intercourse,  it  has  not  benefited  by  the 
progress  which  civilisation  has  made  in  the  other 
cantons,  especially  in  the  towns  on  the  sea-coast. 

Before  reaching  Sartena  *  I  passed  through  several 
villages  where  hereditary  feuds,  which  had  originated 
more  than  fifty  years  back,  divided  the  inhabitants 
into  parties  constantly  hostile  to  one  another. 
Houses  with  battlemented  walls,  for  the  purpose  of 
defence  against  the  attacks  of  an  enemy,  and  from 

*  My  route  lay  through  Cauro-Ornano,  Santa  Maria  d'  Istria, 
while  there  exists  a  branch  of  the  house  of  Coloima,  ami  Sartena. 


CORSICAN  FEUDS.  175 

which  the  indwellers  only  issued  in  armed  gangs  in 
order  to  procure  provisions  and  making  preparations 
for  enduring  a  siege,  proclaimed  a  continual  state  of 
warfare  in  many  villages.  Meanwhile  these  singular 
people  had  suspended  hostilities  by  formal  treaties 
in  honour  of  my  arrival ;  the  chiefs  of  the  warring 
factions  came  together  to  meet  me,  and  each  solicited 
my  preference  of  himself  as  a  host  eager  to  afford  me 
hospitality.  Had  I  been  induced  to  make  a  choice,  it 
would  have  been  a  fresh  cause  of  quarrel  between 
them ;  so  that  I  did  not  accept  the  invitation  of 
either  of  the  rivals  in  any  instance,  but  generally 
took  up  my  residence  in  the  house  of  some  less 
wealthy  person,  where  I  did  not,  it  is  true,  meet  with 
so  splendid  a  reception,  but  whose  owner  holding  him- 
self in  a  neutral  attitude  inspired  no  jealousy  in  the 
dominant  families  ;  or,  if  this  resource  failed  me,  I 
would  lodge  in  one  of  the  Capuchin  Monasteries.  * 
These  were  the  only  Religious  houses  established  in 
the  interior  of  the  island,  and  a  few  of  them  were  still 
in  existence.  The  poverty  of  the  country  had  never 
attracted  thither  the  sons  of  Benedict  and  Bernard  ; 
the  Jesuits  only  had  braved  this  inhospitable  soil ; 
the  Society  had  an  establishment  at  Ajaccio. 

*  This  is  the  course  I  adopted  in  travelling  from  Bastia  to 
Ajaccio  ;  when  the  two  principal  families  of  that  district,  the 
Vivaldis  and  the  Peraldis,  fired  on  each  other  in  their  dispute 
as  to  which  should  have  the  honour  of  entertaining  me. 


176       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


My  journey  into  the   interior,  which   gave  me  a 
clearer  idea  of  the  habits  and  character  of  Corsicans 
than  I  had  until  then  acquired,  was  also  rendered  me- 
morable by  a  remarkable  circumstance.      At  a  short 
distance  from    Sartena,  I  was   joined  by  a  courier 
who   had    been    despatched  to  me  from    the  Army 
of  Italy,  to  announce  the  surrender  of  Mantua  on 
the  14th  Pluviose  (February  3).     This  courier,  not 
finding  me  at  Ajaccio,  had  followed  in  my  footsteps, 
and  came  up  with  me  on  the  road,  in  a  very  wild 
spot,  which  soon  re-echoed  with  the  joyful  shouts  of 
our  little  caravan.    No  piece  of  news  could,  in  truth, 
be  more  welcome  to  me ;  while  the  fall  of  Mantua 
made    our    conquests   in    Italy   secure,    and    was   a 
presage  of  those  which  followed  and  which  extended 
our  rule  over  the  remainder  of  the  peninsula  ;    it  also 
rendered  my  arduous  mission  less  difficult,  and  gave 
me,  so  to  speak,  a  pledge  of  its  success. 

After  remaining  half  a  day  at  Sartena,  I  arrived 
at  Bonifacio  on  the  22nd  Pluviose  (February  10). 
This  town,  situated  at  the  southern  extremity  of 
Corsica,  is  built  on  a  chalk  cliff  which  projects  over 
the  Straits  of  Bonifacio,  from  east  to  west,  and  se- 
parates the  port,  formed  by  a  deep  inland  bay,  from 
the  open  sea.  lis  situation,  which  is  wonderfully 
picturesque,  gives  it  the  command  of  the  channel 
and  the  islands  which  traverse  it  in  various  direc- 
tions,  and   also  of  Sardinia,   whose    nearest  village, 


CURIOUS  GROTTOES.  Ill 

Lungo-Sardo,  is  so  near  that  a  current  saying  in 
the  country,  is  :  "  the  inhabitants  of  Bonifacio  are 
awaked  by  the  crowing  of  the  cocks  of  Sardinia." 
There  are  remarkable  grottoes  along  the  shore, 
into  which  the  sea  flows  :  these  grottoes  deserve 
the  notice  of  travellers,  on  account  of  the  beauty 
of  the  stalactites,  produced  by  infiltrations  of  chalk 
from  the  soil  above,  which  hang  from  their  roof. 

I  was  very  well  received  by  the  inhabitants,  and 
I  found  the  people  generally  well-disposed  towards 
the  Government.  I  passed  three  days  at  Bonifacio, 
where  I  had  to  regulate  some  affairs  of  local  interest ; 
after  these  were  settled,  I  began  to  think  of  return- 
ing to  Ajaccio  as  quickly  as  possible.  The  journey 
that  I  had  just  accomplished  by  land  was  fatiguing 
and  long ;  the  sea  offered  a  quicker  mode  ;  it  was 
calm,  the  wind  was  favourable  and,  by  keeping  near 
the  coast  during  the  night,  there  would  be  little  to 
fear  from  any  English  vessels  which  might  be  cruis- 
ing in  the  neighbourhood..  I  therefore  decided 
on  embarking  with  General  Gentili  on  the  24th 
Pluviose,  in  the  evening.  The  next  morning  we 
doubled  Cape  Mulo,  and  entered  the  Gulf  of  Ajaccio, 
where  I  landed  in  the  afternoon.  On  the  same  day 
I  published  the  regulations  for  the  organisation  of 
the  Central  government  and  the  tribunals  of  the 
department  of  Liamone.  I  installed  the  appointed 
officers  on  the  27th  Pluviose  (February  15),  and  on 

VOL.    I.  n 


178      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

the  28th  a  public  fete  took  place  in  honour  of  the 
surrender  of  Mantua.  Prizes  were  distributed  for 
horse-races  and  gondola-races  with  oars.  These 
contests,  of  which  the  Corsicans  are  very  fond,  at- 
tracted a  crowd  of  spectators  from  the  mountains, 
who  came  to  the  show  in  their  national  costume. 
The  weather  was  superb,  and  the  view  from  the  Gulf 
of  Ajaccio,  which,  as  I  have  since  convinced  myself, 
is  greater  in  extent  than  that  of  Naples,  was  truly 
magnificent. 

All  that  I  had  to  do  was  now  accomplished,  and 
the  administration  was  in  regular  working  order ;  so 
that  I  did  not  require  to  prolong  my  stay  at  Ajaccio, 
where  I  left  men  and  things  in  a  satisfactory  state. 
On  the  2nd  Ventose  (February  28)  I  set  out  on  my 
return  to  Bastia  ;  and,  as  I  adopted  the  same  route 
as  in  coming  to  Ajaccio,  I  have  nothing  more  to  say 
about  it. 

I  stayed  another  month  in  Corsica,  in  order  to 
superintend  the  first  steps  of  the  Government  I  had 
established  there.  But,  as  my  mission  naturally 
came  to  an  end  on  the  1st  Germinal,  year  V.  (March 
21,  1 71)  7),  the  period  at  which,  according  to  the 
constitution  of  year  III.,  the  Primary  Assemblies 
were  to  be  held,  and  to  confirm  or  annul  by  their 
votes  the  appointments  made  by  me,  I  did  not  wish 
to  prolong  my  stay  beyond  that  date.  By  taking 
my  departure,  I  avoided,  on  the  one  hand,  the  ;ip- 


FAREWELL  TO  CORSLCA.  179 


pearance  of  putting  pressure  on  the  popular  choice, 
and,  on  the  other,  responsibility  for  any  disturb- 
ance which  the  first  exercise  of  their  political  rights 
might  occasion  among  a  people  in  whom,  notwith- 
standing all  my  efforts,  the  spirit  of  party  was  not 
completely  extinguished.  I  was  resolved  therefore  to 
relinquish  all  my  functions  on  the  1st  Germinal,  and 
I  had  arranged  to  meet  Joseph  Buonaparte  at  the 
beginning  of  the  month,  and  cross  with  him  to  the 
mainland.  I  took  advantage  of  the  time  which 
still  remained  to  me  on  the  island  to  gather  together 
and  put  in  order  the  documents  I  had  collected 
during  my  stay,  and  from  which  I  drew  up  a  report 
addressed  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  on  the 
state  of  Corsica,  its  productions,  its  trade,  and  its 
industries ;  and  also  on  the  habits  and  character  of 
its  inhabitants. 


x  2 


180      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  3IELITO. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Author  leaves  Corsica  with  Joseph  Buonaparte,  goes  to 
Florence,  and  from  thence  to  Milan— He  visits  General 
Buonaparte,  then  residing  with  his  family  at  Montehello, 
after  a  brilliant  campaign  terminated  by  the  treaty  of 
Tolentino — The  peace  preliminaries  of  Leoben  and  the 
transformation  of  the  Governments  of  Venice  and  Genoa — 
Lukewarm  Republicanism  of  the  General  — -  A  remark- 
able conversation  in  which  Buonaparte  reveals  his  future 
plans — The  Author  goes  to  Turin — Political  situation  of 
Piedmont  and  its  Government  —  Embarrassment  caused 
to  the  Author  by  the  secret  agents  maintained  in  Pied- 
mont by  the  Directory  with  revolutionary  objects  — 
The  Sardinian  Government,  supported  by  Buonaparte,  dis- 
plays excessive  severity  in  putting  down  the  partial  in- 
surrections in  Piedmont — The  Author  goes  to  Milan  to 
have  an  interview  with  Buonaparte  —  Situation  of  the 
different  parties  in  the  Directory  and  the  Councils  in  Paris 
before  the  Coup  <VEl<d  of  the  18th  Fructidor — Buonaparte 
decides  on  supporting  the  Revolutionary  party — The  Author 
accompanies  General  and  Madame  Buonaparte  in  an  expe- 
dition to  bake  Maggiorc — lie  returns  to  Turin  after  having 
agrei  (1  with  the  General  upon  the  courso  ho  is  to  take 
i  hero — The  18th  Fructidor — Its  consequences  as  regarded 
the  position  of  the  Sardinian  Government,  which,  as  a 
result  of  the  treaty  of  ( !ampo-Fonnio,  found  itself  deprived  of 
Buonaparte's  support — The  Directory  separates  (lie  General 


B UONAPABTJE  IN  EXGELCIS.  1 8 1 

from  the  Army  of  Italy  by  giving  him  a  command  in  the 
interior" — Buonaparte,  in  going  to  Eastadt,  passes  through 
Turin — His  conversation  with  the  Author — The  position 
of  the  Sardinian  Government  becomes  more  and  more 
precarious. 

At  the  end  of  the  month  of  Yentose,  Joseph  Buona- 
parte joined  me  at  Bastia,  and  on  the  8th  Germinal 
we  embarked  to  return  to  the  mainland.  We  had 
to  stop  at  Capraja,  in  order  to  evade  the  English 
cruiser,  and  we  left  the  island  in  the  night  of 
the  10  th- llth  Germinal  in  very  stormy  weather. 
Favoured  by  the  darkness  and  a  strong  wind,  we 
reached  Leghorn  in  less  than  four  hours.  I  went 
to  Florence,  where  I  had  to  wait  for  the  papers  con- 
cerning my  nomination  to  the  embassy  of  Turin. 
I  did  not  receive  them  until  the  end  of  the  month 
of  Floreal  ;  my  letters  of  credit  and  instructions 
awaiting  me  at  Turin. 

I  left  Florence  on  the  10th  Prairial  (May  29)  for 
Milan,  where  1  remained  for  several  days  in  order 
to  see  General  Buonaparte,  and  to  consult  with  him 
on  the  new  functions  I  was  about  to  exercise. 

At  this  epoch  Buonaparte  seemed  to  have  attained 
to  the  zenith  of  military  glory.  The  fall  of  Mantua 
had  set  him  free  to  march  on  Rome,  and  if  the 
treaty  of  Tolentino,*  signed  on  the  1st  Yentose 
(February   19,   1797)    had  not    re-established  peace 

*  It  was  only  afier  this  treaty  that  the  articles  of  the  armis- 
tice, relative  to  the  cession  of  the  art  objects,  were  executed. 


182      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

between  the  Republic  and  the  Holy  See,  the  ancient 
capital  of  the  world  would  have  been  occupied  by 
a  French  army.  But  not  only  did  Buonaparte  wish 
to  spare  the  Pope,  but  policy  forbade  the  pursuance 
of  a  campaign  which  would  remove  the  French 
from  Upper  Italy,  where  they  had  to  fight  a  new 
Austrian  army  commanded  by  the  Archduke  Charles, 
and  it  was  with  reason  that  Buonaparte  said,  "  If  I 
went  to  Rome  I  should  lose  Milan."  Thus,  after  his 
short  expedition  into  the  Romagna,  rapidly  retracing 
his  steps,  he  crossed  the  Tagliamento  and  the  Isonza, 
pursued  the  Austrian  army,  which  was  flying  before 
him,  into  Carniola  and  Styria,  and  arrived  at  the 
gates  of  Vienna.  Austria,  in  great  alarm,  asked  for 
an  armistice,  which  was  granted  her  on  the  18th 
Germinal  (April  7)  at  Judenbourg,  and  signed 
preliminaries  at  Leoben  the  2Gth  (15th)  of  the  same 
month.  In  returning  to  Italy,  after  arranging  this 
treaty,  which  had  become  as  necessary  to  France  as 
to  Austria,  on  account  of  the  insurrection  against 
the  French  that  had  just  broken  out  in  the  States  of 
Venice,  Buonaparte  avenged  his  country  for  the 
perfidy  of  the  Venetian  Senate  by  overthrowing  for 
ever  that  formidable  oligarchy,  which  had  maintained 
itself  for  so  many  centuries,  in  the  midst  of  the  poli- 
tical convulsions  and  wars  that  had  ravaged  Italy. 
As  the  conqueror  of  four  Austrian  armies,  Buona- 
parte, the  destroyer  of  the  mosl  ancient  government 


MONTEBELLO.  183 


of  Europe,  came  back  to  Milan,  where  he  received 
the  deputies  of  the  people  of  Venice,  dictated  to  them 
his  laws,  and  established  an  absolute  Democracy*  on 
the  ruins  of  the  Senate  and  the  Grand  Council,  which 
had  sent  in  their  resignation.  He  had  at  this  time 
been  barely  a  year  in  Italy. 

He  then  settled  himself  down  at  Montebello,f 
where  conferences  commenced  by  a  definitive  treaty 
of  peace  concluded  between  France  and  Austria, 
and  where  the  affairs  of  Genoa  were  discussed  at  the 
same  time.  Intimidated  by  the  example  of  Venice, 
Genoa    consented,   like    her    rival,  to    renounce  her 

ancient  organisation. J 

I  was  received  by  Buonaparte,  at  the  magnifi- 
cent residence  of  Montebello,  on  the  13th  Prairial 
(June  1),  in  the  midst  of  a  brilliant  court  rather 
than  the  headquarters  of  an  army.  Strict  etiquette 
already  reigned  around  him  ;  his  aides-de  camp  and 
his  officers  were  no  longer  received  at  his  table, 
and  he  had  become  fastidious  in  the  choice  of 
the  guests  whom  he  admitted  to  it.     An  invitation 

*  This  treaty  is  of  the  16th  Floreal,  year  V.  (May  5,  1797). 

\  Chateau  and  park  about  four  miles  from  Milan. 

\  The  convention  which  regulated  the  affairs  of  Genoa, 
signed  by  Buonaparte  and  Faipoult,  then  Minister  of  the 
Kepublic  at  Genoa,  bears  date  the  17th  and  18th  Prairial 
(June  5  and  6,  1797).  It  is  signed  for  the  Genoese  by 
Michel-Ange  Cambiaso,  Louis  Carbonara,  and  Jerome  Fraucois- 
Serra. 


184      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


was  an  honour  eagerly  sought,   and  obtained  with 
great  difficulty.     He  dined,  so  to  speak,  in  public ; 
the  inhabitants  of  the  country  were  admitted  to  the 
room  in  which  he  was  eating,  and  allowed  to  gaze 
at  him  with  a  keen  curiosity.     He  was  in  no  wise 
embarrassed  or  confused  by  these  excessive  honours, 
but  received  them  as  though  he  had  been  accustomed 
to    them    all     his    life.      His   reception-rooms     and 
an    immense   tent   pitched    in    front   of    the   palace 
were  constantly  full    of  a    crowd    of  generals,    ad- 
ministrators, and  great  contractors  ;  besides  members 
of  the  highest  nobility,  and  the  most  distinguished 
men    in    Italy,    who    came    to    solicit    the    favour 
of  a    momentary  glance  or  the  briefest   interview. 
In    a    word,    all   bowed    before    the   glory    of    his 
victories   and    the    haughtiness    of  his    demeanour. 
He    was   no  longer    the  General  of    a    triumphant 
Republic,  but  a  conqueror  on  his  own  account,  im- 
posing his  laws  on  the  vanquished. 

Austria  had  sent  two  Plenipotentiaries  to  Monte- 
bello;  one  of  them  was  Count  de  Meerfeld,  and  the 
other  the  Marquis  de  Gatto,  ambassador  from  Naples 
to  Vienna.  The  latter  was  afterwards  ambassador 
to  Paris,  and  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  under  the 
successive  reigns  of  Joseph  Buonaparte,  king  of  Na- 
ples, and  Murat,  who  succeeded  him  on  that  throne. 
On  its  side,  the  Directory  had  sent  to  Buonaparte 
General  Clarke  (afterwards  Due  de  Feltre),  who  bad 


CLARKE.  185 


on  the  lGth  of  the  preceding  Germinal  concluded  a 
treatv  of  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  between 
the  French  Republic  and  the  King  of  Sardinia. 
Jealous  of  the  preponderance,  or  rather  of  the  ab- 
solute independence  that  Buonaparte  affected  in  the 
conduct  of  political  affairs,  and  uneasy  at  his  am- 
bition which  was  already  showing  itself  without  dis- 
guise, the  Directory  had  contrived  this  appointment 
under  the  pretext  of  assisting  General  Buonaparte, 
but  in  reality  to  place  a  spy  on  his  designs  and 
provide  a  counterpoise  for  his  authority.  But  an 
expedient  of  this  sort  was  not  likely  to  succeed 
with  such  a  man  as  Buonaparte.  He  saw  through 
the  intentions  of  the  Government  at  once,  and,  far 
from  giving  his  colleague  a  share  in  the  conduct 
of  the  negotiations,  he  concealed  their  progress 
from  him  more  closely  than  from  any  other 
person,  and  Clarke  was  positively,  of  all  the 
negotiators  then  at  Montebello,  the  individual  in 
whom  Buonaparte  confided  the  least. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  Buonaparte,  to 
whom  I  had  written  on  arriving  at  Milan,  invited 
me,  though  Bourienne  (who  for  some  time  past  had 
been  his  private  secretary),  to  come  and  see  him  at 
Montebello,  where  he  even  proposed  that  I  should 
establish  myself.  This  offer  I  refused,  in  order  not 
to  be  separated  from  my  family,  who  were  with  me, 
and  besides,  the  distance  between  Milan  and  Monte- 


186      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT   BE  MELITO. 

bello  was  sufficiently  short  to  enable  me  to  come  and 
go  every  day. 

In  addition  to  the  persons  whom  I  have  already 
mentioned,  as  either  living  at  Montebello  or  coming 
there  regularly,  I  met  Madame  Buonaparte,  the 
General's  wife ;  Madame  Lastitia  Buonaparte,  his 
mother,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Genoa ;  his 
brothers  Joseph  and  Louis,  the  latter  then  very 
young ;  his  sister  Pauline,  who  was  shortly  after- 
wards married  to  General  Leclerc,  and  Fesch  his 
uncle.  Fesch  had  at  that  time  an  interest  in  the 
army  supplies,  and,  according  to  rumour,  had  little 
of  the  priest  about  him ;  he  did  not  even  wear 
clerical  costume,  although  he  had  been  Grand  Vicar 
to  the  Bishop  of  Ajaccio.  In  this  numerous  society 
I  frequently  met  Begnault  de  Saint-Jean  d'Angely, 
whom  up  to  that  time  I  had  known  only  by  the  repu- 
tation he  had  acquired  in  the  Constituent  Assembly, 
and  soon  became  intimate  with  him.  He  had  official 
employment  connected  with  the  hospitals,  but  he  had 
attracted  Buonaparte's  attention  by  his  editing  of  a 
French  journal  which  came  out  at  Milan.  He  dis- 
played rare  facility,  as  well  as  remarkable  talent,  as 
;m  editor,  and  to  this  circumstance,  which  frequently 
brought  him  in  contact  with  the  General,  he  owed 
his  subsequent  fortune. 

In  the  first  conversation   that  1   hail  with  Buona- 
parte   :it     Montebello,    and    which     began    with     I  he 


BUONAPARTE  AND  CLARKE.  187 

subject  of  my  Corsican  mission,  in  which  he  thought 
I  had  acquitted  myself  well,  I  saw,  so  soon  as  he 
touched  on  more  important  topics,  that  he  had  by 
no  means  decided  upon  treating  definitively  with 
Austria,  and  still  less  upon  promoting  the  negotia- 
tion or  concluding  it  promptly.  He  recognised  all 
the  advantages  of  the  position  he  had  acquired,  and 
feared  that  peace  might  change  it.  This  actually 
happened  after  the  treaty  of  Campo-Formio.  He 
seemed  to  me  to  hold  the  negotiators  the  Emperor 
had  sent  him  cheap,  and  made  some  very  bitter  jests 
at  their  expense.  He  took  especial  care  to  tell  me 
that  Clarke,  whom  the  Directory  had  chosen  to 
associate  with  him,  was  there  merely  for  form's  sake, 
that  he  had  no  influence,  and  never  received  any 
communication. 

"  He  is  a  spy,"  he  added,  "  whom  the  Directory 
have  set  upon  me  ;  besides,  Clarke  is  a  man  of  no 
talent — he  is  only  conceited."* 

I  perfectly  recognised  by  what  he  said  at  our 
first  interview,  and  in  all  my  subsequent  conversa- 
tions with  him  during  my  stay  at  Milan,  the  same 
views  and  the  same  designs  that  I  had  detected  in 
our  previous  interviews  at  Breccia,  Bologna,  and 
Florence.  In  a  word,  I  still  found  in  Buonaparte 
a    man    thoroughly    opposed   to    Republican    forms 

*  Nevertheless,  he  afterwards  raised  Clarke  to  the  highest 
dignities. 


188      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

and  ideas  ;  be  treated  everything  of  the  sort  as  idle 
dreams. 

He  withdrew  the  mask  more  completely  on  a 
certain  occasion,  which  I  cannot  pass  over  in  silence. 

Among  the  crowd  which  surrounded  and  followed 
him  eagerly,  I  observed  that  he  particularly  dis- 
tinguished M.  de  Melzi,  a  Milanese  noble,  and  one 
of  the  most  enlightened  and  honourable  citizens  of 
Lombardy.*  I  happened  to  be  with  him  one  day 
at  Montebello,  and  Buonaparte  invited  us  both  to 
walk  with  him  in  the  vast  gardens  of  that  beautiful 
palace.  Our  walk  lasted  about  two  hours,  during 
which  time  the  General  talked  almost  incessantly, 
and  either  the  confidence  with  which  we  inspired 
him  led  him  to  reveal  his  mind  undisguisedly,  or  he 
was  carried  away  by  the  longing  he  frequently 
experienced  to  give  expression  to  the  ideas  crowding 
upon  his  brain  to  the  first  comer.  He  spoke  with 
entire  frankness  of  his  projects  for  the  future. 

"  What  1  have  done  up  to  this,"  he  said,  "  is 
nothing.  I  am  only  at  the  beginning  of  the  coursel 
must  run.     Do  you  imagine  that  I  triumph  in  Italy 

*  M.  do  Melzi  d'Eril  (ai'ter wards  Duke  of  Lodi)  was  subse- 
quently named  Vice-president  of  the  Italian  Republic,  and 
wlicn,  in  1S05,  that  Kepublic  was  changed  into  a  kingdom,  he 
received  the  title  of  "  ( 'hancellor-Keeper  of  the  Seals  of  tho 
Crown."  1  had  known  him  at  Florence  (see  note,  page  102), 
and  I  saw  him  again,  a  few  years  later,  al  Paris.  He  died 
iu  1816. 


BUONAPARTE  REVEALS  HIMSELF.  189 

in  order  to  aggrandise  the  pack  of  lawyers  who  form 
the  Directory,  and  men  like  Carnot  and  Barras  ? 
What  an  idea  !  a  Republic  of  thirty  million  men  ! 
and  with  our  manners,  our  vices !  how  is  it  possible  ? 
That  is  a  fancy  of  which  the  French  are  at  present 
full,  but  it  will  pass  away  like  all  the  others.  What 
they  want  is  Glory  and  gratified  Vanity  ;  but  as  for 
Liberty,  they  do  not  understand  what  it  means. 
Look  at  the  army !  the  victories  we  have  just  won 
have  already  restored  the  French  soldier  to  his 
true  character.  To  him,  I  am  everything.  Let  the 
Directory  try  to  take  the  command  from  me,  and 
they  will  see  who  is  master.  The  nation  must 
have  a  chief,  and  a  chief  rendered  illustrious  by 
glory,  not  by  theories  of  government,  by  phrases, 
by  theoretic  speeches,  which  Frenchmen  do  not 
understand.  Give  them  baubles — that  suffices  them  ; 
they  will  be  amused  and  will  let  themselves  be 
led,  so  long  as  the  end  towards  which  they  are 
going  is  skilfully  hidden  from  them. 

"  As  for  your  country,  Monsieur  de  Melzi,  it 
possesses  still  fewer  elements  of  Republicanism  than 
France,  and  can  be  more  easily  managed  than  any 
other.  You  know  better  than  any  one  that  we  shall 
do  what  we  like  with  Italy.  But  the  time  has  not 
yet  come  ;  we  must  temporise  with  the  fever  of  the 
moment,  and  we  are  going  to  have  one  or  two  Re- 
publics here  of  our  own  particular  kind — Monge  will 


190      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

arrange  that  for  us.  In  the  meantime  I  have  already 
expunged  two  from  Italian  territory,  and  although 
they  were  quite  aristocratic  Republics,  they  had 
more  public  spirit  and  more  fixed  opinions  than  we 
found  anywhere  else.  They  would  in  the  end  have 
hampered  us.  For  the  rest,  I  am  quite  determined. 
I  will  not  give  up  either  Lombardy  or  Mantua  to 
Austria.  You  may  reckon  upon  that  "  (he  was  still 
addressing  himself  to  M.  de  Melzi),  "and  you  see 
that,  whatever  decision  we  arrive  at  with  respect  to 
your  country,  you  may  enter  into  my  views  without 
having  anything  to  fear  either  from  the  return  or 
the  power  of  Austria.  I  will  give  her  Venice,  and  a 
portion  of  the  terra  firma  of  that  ancient  Republic 
as  an  indemnification." 

We  both  together  exclaimed  against  such  a 
proposition,  which  would  once  more  set  Austria  at 
the  gates  of  Italy,  and  crush  all  the  hopes  of  a 
population  which  he  himself  had  freed  from  the 
yoke  of  an  odious  oligarchy,  only  to  transfer  them 
to  an  absolute  monarchy,  which  would  hold  them  in 
a  no  less  intolerable  slavery  than  that  from  which 
lie  had  just  delivered  them.  He  answered  thai 
we  need  not  cry  out  before  we  were  hurt. 

"I  shall  not  do  that,"  he  continued,  "unless,  by 
sonic  blunder  in  Paris,  I  am  compelled  to  make 
peace;  for  it  is  not.  my  intention  to  finish  so 
promptly  with  Austria.      IYaee  is  not  to  my  interest. 


BUONAPARTE  REVEALS  HIMSELF.  191 

You  see  what  I  am,  and  what  I  can  now  do  in  Italy. 
If  peace  is  made,  if  I  am  no  longer  at  the  head  of  the 
army,  which  is  attached  to  me,  I  must  renounce  the 
power,  the  high  position  I  have  made  for  myself, 
in  order  to  pay  court  to  a  lot  of  lawyers  at  the 
Luxembourg.  I  do  not  want  to  leave  Italy,  unless 
it  be  to  play  a  part  in  France  similar  to  my  part 
here,and  the  time  has  not  yet  come  ;  the  pear  is 
not  ripe.  But  the  management  of  all  this  does  not 
depend  exclusively  on  me.  There  are  disagree- 
ments in  Paris.  One  party  is  in  favour  of  the 
Bourbons ;  I  do  not  intend  to  contribute  to  its 
triumph.  I  am  quite  ready  to  weaken  the  Repub- 
lican party  ;  some  day  I  shall  do  it  for  my  own 
advantage,  not  that  of  the  former  dynasty.  In 
the  meantime  I  must  act  with  the  Republican  party. 
A.nd  then,  if  peace  be  necessary  in  order  to  satisfy 
our  Paris  boobies,  and  if  it  has  to  be  made,  it  is 
my  task  to  make  it.  If  I  left  the  merit  of  it  to 
another,  such  a  concession  would  place  him  higher 
in  public  favour  than  all  my  victories  have 
placed  me." 

The  foregoing  contains  the  substance  and  the 
most  remarkable  expressions  of  this  long  allocution, 
which  I  both  consigned  to  paper,  and  retain  in  my 
memory. 

After  the  General  had  left  us,  I  continued  to 
converse    with    M.    de    Melzi,    during   our    return 


192      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

journey  to  Milan,  on  the  serious  subjects  he  had 
suggested  to  us. 

In  my  final  conversation  with  Buonaparte,  the 
mission  I  was  about  to  undertake  at  Turin  was 
discussed. 

The  General  assured  me  (and  the  sequel  has 
proved  that  he  was  not  insincere)  that  he  had  no 
intention  of  disturbing  Piedmont,  and  that  I  might 
give  ample  assurance  that  such  was  the  case  ;  but 
he  added  that  he  could  not  be  answerable  for  the 
intentions  of  the  Executive  Directory  in  this  respect, 
surrounded  as  it  was  by  schemers,  who  would  not 
fail  to  stir  up  dissensions  in  the  country. 

He  said  enough,  on  the  whole,  to  make  me  feel 
that  my  mission  would  be  a  difficult  one. 

At  last,  after  spending  a  week  at  Milan,  I  left 
that  city  for  Turin.  I  crossed  the  Ticino  on  the 
21st  Prairial,  and  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river  I 
found  a  detachment  of  cavalry  which  the  Govern- 
ment had  sent  forward  to  meet  me.  It  escorted 
me  to  Turin,  where  I  arrived  the  next  day,  the 
22nd  Prairial,  year  V.  (June  10,  1707). 

I  shall  now  endeavour  to  describe  the  political 
situation  of  the  country,  and  the  government  to 
which   I  was  accredited. 

The  peace  concluded  with  the  King  of  Sardinia 
,,n  the  2Gth  Floral,  year  V.  (May  15,  1796), 
ensuing  <>n  the  victories  of  the  French   in   (lie  early 


THE   SABDINIAN  COURT.  193 

months  of  the  same  year  had  saved  the  Court  of 
Turin  from  complete  ruin.  Victor  Amadeus  III., 
who  had  concluded  the  treaty,  died  a  few  months 
after  its  ratification,  October  the  16th,  1796  (26th 
Vende'miaire,  year  V.).  His  son  Charles  Emmanuel 
IV.  had  succeeded  him,  and  had  hastened  to  appoint 
an  ambassador  to  the  Executive  Directory  in  Paris, 
in  the  person  of  Count  Prosper  de'  Balbi.  My 
appointment  to  the  same  post  at  the  Court  of  the 
King  of  Sardinia  had  immediately  followed.  Inde- 
pendently of  these  reciprocal  marks  of  a  friendly 
understanding  between  the  two  Governments,  nego- 
tiations had  been  commenced  with  a  view  to  a  treaty 
of  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  between  France 
and  Piedmont,  and  one  of  the  conditions  was  the 
cession  of  the  island  of  Sardinia  to  France,  in 
exchange  for  an  increase  of  territory  in  Italy.* 
General  Clarke  had  been  entrusted  with  these  nego- 
tiations, and  he  found  the  dispositions  of  the  Cabinet 
of  Turin  favourable.  On  the  one  hand,  that  Cabinet 
was  displeased  with  Austria  for  her  desertion  of 
it  in  the  hour  of  danger,f  and  on  the  other,  the 
fear    lest  France    might   support   the  revolutionary 

*  This  stipulation  was  not  contained  in  the  treaty  itself, 
but  in  a  secret  convention  signed  on  the  same  day. 

"j"  The  King  of  Sardinia  and  the  Emperor  had  concluded  a 
treaty  of  alliance,  signed  at  Valenciennes  on  May  23,  1794,  by 
Baron  de  Thugut  and  the  Marquis  d' Albany.  The  conditions 
of  this  treaty  were  ill-observed  by  Austria. 

VOL.    I.  O 


194      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

projects  of  certain  Piedmontese  subjects,  held  the 
Sardinian  Government  in  bondage  to  France,  and 
made  it  ardently  desire  an  alliance,  which  would  be, 
in  reality,  a  guarantee  of  its  existence. 

These  negotiations  which,  it  might  be  thought, 
would,  under  such  favouring  circumstances,  advance 
rapidly,  hung  fire  for  several  months.  Buonaparte, 
who  was  informed  of  the  delay,  pressed  for  a  con- 
clusion, in  order  to  get  hold  of  the  contingent  which 
Piedmont  was  bound  by  one  of  the  articles  of  the 
treaty  to  furnish,  and  which  would  have  been  of 
considerable  use  to  him.  He  even  asked  the 
Sardinian  Government  to  anticipate  the  conclusion 
of  the  treaty,  and  to  order  to  No  vara  the  troops 
which  were  to  be  added  to  the  French  army  when 
the  casus  foederis  should  take  place.  But  he  asked 
in  vain.  The  treaty  was  eventually  signed  at  Turin 
on  the  16th  Germinal,  year  V.  (April  5,  1797),  be- 
tween General  Clarke,  Plenipotentiary  of  France, 
and  the  Count  de  Prioca  (Clement  Damiano),  Pleni- 
potentiary of  the  King  of  Sardinia  and  his  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs. 

By  this  time,  however,  the  importance  that  might 
have  attached  to  the  men  and  guns  which  the  treaty 
placed  at  the  disposition  of  the  French  Commander- 
in-Chief,  bad  ceased  to  exist. 

Buonaparte  was  already  in  the  heart  of  Styria,  and 
lie   affixed   his  signature   at  Leoben   to   the  prelinii- 


THE   TREATY.  195 


naries  of  peace  with  Austria  nearly  on  the  same  day 
as  that  on  which  the  treaty,  which  gave  a  new  enemy 
to  the  Court  of  Vienna,  was  signed  at  Turin.*  The 
time  had  gone  by,  and  the  Directory,  which  then 
wished  to  conciliate  Austria  so  as  to  facilitate  a 
definitive  peace,  showed  no  haste  in  proposing  the 
ratification  of  the  recently-concluded  treaty  to  the 
Legislative  Councils.  The  Court  of  Turin  relapsed 
into  its  former  anxieties,  which  were  daily  in- 
creased by  the  revolutionary  movements  then  dis- 
turbing Italy  and  penetrating  into  Piedmont,  where 
secret  agents  employed  by  the  Executive  Directory 
were  disseminating  a  spirit  of  revolt,  and  the  first 
germs  of  those  disturbances  which  broke  out  shortly 
afterwards. 

In  allying  itself  with  the  French  Republic,  the 
Court  of  Turin  was  far  from  embracing  or  condoning 
the  principles  of  the  French  Revolution.  Fear 
alone  had  induced  it  to  form  that  alliance,  and  the 
Government  continued  to  treat  all  in  the  Sardinian 
States  who  showed  any  favour  to  those  principles, 
or  appeared  as  their  partisans,  with  extreme  severity. 
Barbarous  executions  had  just  taken  place  in 
Sardinia,  in  consequence  of  disturbances  in  the 
island.  All  persons  who  evinced  friendship  for 
France  and    her  institutions    were  prosecuted,  ban- 


*  The   preliminaries   of  Leoben    are  dated    18th    Germinal 
(April  7). 

o  2 


196      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

ished,  and  dismissed  from  public  employment,  and 
the  surest  method  of  incurring  disgrace  with  the 
Sardinian  Government  was  to  show  friendship 
to  its  new  ally,  or  to  rejoice  in  the  triumphs  of 
France. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Executive  Directory, 
which  at  the  beginning  would  perhaps  have  desired 
to  establish  its  power  on  principles  of  moderation, 
was  led  away  by  that  extreme  party  within  it  which 
was  urging  Revolution  on  all  the  Italian  States. 
This  party,  owing  to  the  victory  which  it  obtained 
shortly  afterwards,  on  the  18th  Fructidor,  acquired 
the  mastery  and  grasped  the  whole  direction  of 
affairs.  On  neither  side,  therefore,  was  there  any 
guarantee  of  lasting  harmony  between  two  Govern- 
ments so  utterly  opposed  in  their  views.  Buonaparte 
alone  desired  tranquillity  for  Piedmont.  He  was 
resolved  to  permit  neither  disturbance  nor  agitation 
on  his  rear,  and  he  deprecated  equally  any  move- 
ments that  might  take  place,  either  for  or  against 
political  revolution,  in  a  country  which  he  desired  to 
maintain  in  quietude,  so  as  to  afford  him,  whatever 
happened,  a  secure  and  easy  retreat. 

It  was  not,  however,  in  his  power  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  intrigues  of  numerous  agents  who  were  person- 
ally unknown  to  him,  and  who  bad  a  central  rendez- 
vous in  Paris.  The  Executive  Directory,  moreover, 
began  seriously  to   dread    Buonaparte's  ascendency 


BUONAPABTE  AND    THE  DIRECTORY.  197 

in  Italy,  and  the  totally  independent  attitude  he  had 
assumed  since  the  preliminaries  at  Leoben,  and  was 
therefore  not  unwilling  to  create  difficulties  for  him. 
During  this  conflict,  a  twofold  impulse  was  given  to 
affairs ;  one,  public  and  patent  to  all,  by  Buonaparte  ; 
the  other,  secret  and  disguised,  by  a  party  in  the 
Directory  and  its  obscure  co-operators. 

This  state  of  things  subsisted  until  the  18th 
Fructidor.  Then  Buonaparte,  obliged  to  declare 
himself,  supported  the  extreme  party  (in  the  revo- 
lutionary sense)  in  the  Directory,  so  as  to  avoid 
supporting  that  party  no  less  extreme  in  ideas,  but 
much  more  timid  in  action,  who  desired  the  return 
of  the  Bourbons.  It  is  not  yet  time  for  me  to  speak 
in  detail  of  this  event,  and  of  its  influence  on  the 
fate  of  Piedmont  and  of  Italy.  I  have  said  enough 
to  show  that  I  took  up  my  residence  in  Turin  at  a 
moment  of  difficulty,  the  greater  because  I  could  not 
know  the  real  intentions  of  the  Executive  Directory, 
divided,  as  it  was,  into  two  factions,  nor  could  I  guess 
which  of  those  factions  would  triumph.  But  being 
incapable  by  nature  of  dissimulation,  and  ignorant 
of  the  art  of  adroitly  contriving  a  way  out  of  the 
dilemma,  whichever  should  be  the  triumphant  party, 
I  unhesitatingly  adopted  the  line  of  conduct  that 
seemed  to  accord  best  with  the  honour  of  the  French 
name,  that  of  proving  my  fidelity  to  the  treaties,  of 
refusing  all  countenance   to  agitators,  whatever  the 


198      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

mask  of  patriotism  they  might  assume,  and  holding 
myself  altogether  aloof  from  them. 

Acting  on  these  principles,  I  conformed  at  once  to 
the  customs  of  the  country  and  of  the  Court  to  which 
I  was  accredited,  however  they  might  differ  from 
those  which  the  Revolution  had  introduced  among 
ourselves.  I  carefully  avoided  any  affectation  of 
republican  austerity  in  my  manners  or  mode  of  life 
which  might  have  been  a  cause  of  offence.  It  was  at 
Turin  that  two  Princesses,  related  by  ties  of  blood  to 
the  King  who  had  just  ascended  the  throne,  had 
sought  a  refuge.*  I  allayed  the  fears  which  my 
arrival  at  Turin  had  excited  in  his  mind ;  their 
place  of  exile  was  respected,  and  I  supported  the 
request  that  Mademoiselle  de  Conde'  had  made  to 
the  Directory,  to  be  allowed  to  take  up  her  abode 
in  Piedmont. 

The  line  of  conduct  that  I  adopted  was  one — as 
may  be  imagined — far  from  likely  to  win  the  confi- 
dence of  the  secret  agents  in  the  employ  of  the 
Directory.  One  of  these,  a  certain  Edward  Maurin, 
represented  the  conduct  of  the  Court  of  Turin  in 
the  most  unfavourable  light,  and  sought  by  every 
possible  imputation  to  damage  it  with  the  French 
Government,      Nor  did   he  spare  me   either,  but  I 

■  The  Iwn  daughters  of  Victor- Amadous ;  one  of  whom  had 
married  the  Comte  tic  Provence;  (Louis  XVIII.),  and  the  other 
the  <  'ointe  d'Arliiis  (Charles  X.). 


TROUBLOUS   TIMES.  199 


must  do  the  Minister  of  Exterior  Relations  the 
justice  of  saying  that  the  tale-bearing  of  this  person 
did  not  outweigh  in  his  estimation  those  documents 
which  he  received  from  a  purer  source.  In  his 
report  to  the  Executive  Directory,  dated  1st 
Germinal,  year  V.,  he  declared  that,  since  the  new 
King's  accession,  the  conduct  of  the  Turin  Cabinet 
had  been  frank  and  irreproachable. 

Meanwhile,  my  endeavours  to  maintain  tranquillity 
in  the  country  by  refusing  all  countenance  to  those 
who  were  incessantly  seeking  to  promote  revolution 
were  powerless  to  arrest  the  evil.  Secret  machina- 
tions, directed  from  Paris,  exposed  the  public  peace 
to  constant  danger,  and  the  alarm  of  the  Piedmontese 
Government  increased  daily,  especially  as  it  could 
not  conceal  from  itself  that  the  middle  classes 
inclined  towards  a  change  of  political  system  which 
would,  at  the  least,  have  converted  the  absolute  into 
a  constitutional  monarchy.  In  Buonaparte  alone,  up 
to  this  time,  had  the  Court  of  Turin  felt  any  confi- 
dence ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  assurances  which  he 
continued  to  give,  the  changes  that  had  taken  place 
at  Genoa,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Cisalpine  Re- 
public, whose  constitution  was  at  this  very  moment 
being  discussed  under  the  General's  eyes,  rendered 
the  position  of  a  monarchical  State  very  precarious, 
surrounded,  as  it  soon  would  be,  by  Governments 
acting   on  opposite   principles,  and  animated  by  ill- 


200      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


concealed  zeal  for  proselytism.      The  King,  hoping 
to  escape  from  so  critical  a  position,  had  despatched 
M.  de  Saint-Marsan  to  General  Buonaparte,  and  the 
former,  by  prudent  conduct  and  very  distinguished 
talent,    inspired   the  General  with    confidence    and 
regard,    which    Buonaparte,  when   he    had    become 
Emperor,  felt  for  him  to   the  last.      M.  de  Saint- 
Marsan,    in  describing   the    position    of  the    Turin 
Court,  had  little  difficulty  in  convincing  Buonaparte 
of  the  dangerous  consequences  to  the  French  army, 
of  an   insurrection  in  Piedmont ;    and  the  General, 
who  had  not  concluded  with  Austria,  and  had  not  as 
yet  declared  himself  for  either  of  the  two  parties  in 
the  Directory,  perceived  them  at  once.     For  which- 
ever party  he  might  decide,  it  was  necessary  that 
access   to    Piedmont  and  the  passage    of  the  Alps 
should  be  free  and  secure  for  the  army,  with  which 
he  must,  in    all  cases,  be  in  a  position   to  threaten 
Paris.     Therefore  he  had   no   hesitation    in   giving 
to    M.    de    Saint-Marsan   the    strongest    assurances 
of    his    friendly    disposition    towards   the    Court   of 
Turin,  and  his  satisfaction  with  the  conduct  of  the 
Sardinian  Government.     At  the  same  time  he  an- 
nounced that  he  had  caused  several  individuals,  who, 
niter  preaching  insurrection  in  Piedmont,  had  taken 
refuge   in    the    Milanese   territory,   to   be   arrested. 
These  assurances  of  friendship  and,  if  we  may  say  so, 
of  avowed  protection,  are  to  !><■  found  in  a  despatch 


BUONAPARTE  PROTECTOR   OF  PIEDMONT.    201 

of  the  20th  Messidor  (July  8),  addressed  to  M.  de 
Saint-Marsan.  The  General  sent  me  a  copy  of  this 
despatch.  The  letter  which  he  wrote  to  me,  and 
which  accompanied  the  despatch,  ends  with  these 
words  :  "  I  own,  my  dear  ambassador,  that  this 
letter  "  (one  which  M.  de  Saint-Marsan  had  taken  to 
him)  "has  opened  my  eyes  as  to  the  affairs  of  Pied- 
mont. Since  they  are  so  apprehensive,  something 
must  be  going  on  that  we  do  not  know.  I  beg  you 
to  inform  me  precisely  of  the  state  of  things  and  of 
the  tone  of  popular  feeling.  You  will  understand 
that  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  Piedmont 
should  be  tranquil,  in  order  that  my  line  of  com- 
munication and  the  rear  of  my  army  may  be  secure." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  my  reply,  dated 
the  24th  Messidor. 

"  It  is  certain  that  M.  de  Prioca's  fears  are,  at  any 
rate  for  the  moment,  exaggerated.  But  it  is  true, 
nevertheless,  that  the  political  changes  which  have 
taken  place  in  the  neighbouring  States  have 
revived  the  hopes  of  all  who  wish  for  a  change 
particularly  desired  by  the  middle  and  best-educated 
class  in  Piedmont ;  but  equally  deprecated  by  the 
two  extreme  classes — the  higher  nobility  and  the 
clergy,  on  one  hand,  and  the  populace  on  the  other. 
So  long  as  we  do  not  favour  the  Revolutionary  party, 
there  will  be  no  revolution  in  Piedmont ;  at  least,  a 
singular  and  hitherto  improbable  concourse  of  events 


202      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


would  be  required  to  produce  one  spontaneously. 
It  is  then  for  you,  General,  to  declare  your  mind 
strongly,  because  it  is  always  you  whom  the  Revo- 
lutionists put  forward.  But,  above  all,  insist  on  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty  of  alliance.  That  will  be 
the  best  means  of  tranquillising  the  Cabinet  of 
Turin." 

However,  neither  the  line  taken  by  General 
Buonaparte,  nor  the  pains  I  took  to  second  it,  had 
sufficient  influence  to  arrest  movements  which  re- 
ceived their  impetus  from  another  centre  of  action 
quite  independent  of  us.  Disturbances,  instead 
of  diminishing,  increased  with  redoubled  violence 
during  the  summer  of  1797,  notwithstanding  the 
concessions  which  the  Court  of  Turin  had  made  to 
public  opinion  in  the  hope  of  preventing  them,  by 
abolishing  feudal  prerogatives  by  an  edict  of  July  29 
(11th  Thermidor),  which  suppressed  both  entails 
and  trusts* 

The  Sardinian  Government,  however,  being  as- 
sured beforehand  that  the  agitators  had  no  support 
to  expect  from  General  Buonaparte,  proceeded  with 
great  energy  to  put  down  partial  insurrections  in 
various  places,  and  succeeded  in  doing  so.  But,  like 
;ill  weak  Governments,  which  are  always  the  most 
violent,  it  afterwards  inflicted  such  severe,  I  may 
even  say  atrocious,  punishments  upon  the  insurgents, 
Los  substitutions,  ei  lee  fid6i-oommis." 


*     u 


CRUELTY  OF   THE  GOVERNMENT.  203 

that  I  could  not  refrain  from  making  some  repre- 
sentations, upon  the  score  of  common  humanity,  in 
the  hope  of  checking  the  course  of  the  horrible 
executions  that  were  daily  taking  place.  This  pro- 
ceeding of  mine  was  not  well  received  by  M.  de 
Prioca,  who  complained  of  it  in  Paris,  through  the 
medium  of  M.  de  Balbi,  as  an  interference  with  the 
internal  administration  of  the  kingdom,  and  it  was 
equally  disapproved  by  M.  de  Talleyrand,  who  had 
just  entered  the  Ministry  of  Exterior  Relations. 
Both  these  personages  were  perhaps  formally  in  the 
right ;  but  I  the  less  regretted  the  step  I  had  taken, 
because  I  understood  that  my  representations  did  in 
the  end  convince  the  Sardinian  Government  of  the 
need  of  greater  moderation  and  a  different  course  of 
action ;  and  on  the  24th  of  August  a  general  amnesty 
was  published.  Buonaparte  had  written  on  the 
15th  Thermidor  (August  2)  to  M.  de  Prioca,  con- 
gratulating him  on  the  fortunate  issue  to  the  crisis 
into  which  the  last  disturbances  had  thrown  the 
Piedmontese  Government.  The  Directory  of  the 
Cisalpine  Republic,  newly  established  at  Milan,  had 
formally  informed  the  King  of  Sardinia  of  its 
installation,  and  the  King  recognised  that  Govern- 
ment and  received  an  ambassador  from  the  new 
Republic. 

Thus  the  suppression  of  revolutionary  movements 
in  the  interior  of  the  country,  the  neutrality  observed 


204      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

by  France  during  these  disturbances,  the  congratu- 
lations of  General  Buonaparte  on  the  success  just 
achieved  by  the  Sardinian  Government,  and  the 
renewal  of  friendly  relations  between  the  Cisalpine 
Directory  and  the  King  of  Sardinia,  had  all  contri- 
buted to  render  the  position  of  the  Court  of  Turin 
better  than  it  had  been  since  the  peace  of  the  26th 
Prairial,  year  IV.  Quiet  was  restored  for  a  time ; 
there  was,  so  to  speak,  a  truce  between  the  parties. 
But  this  state  of  things  did  not  last  long.  A  fresh 
storm,  far  more  serious  than  any  that  had  yet 
broken  out,  was  gathering  on  the  political  horizon, 
and  finally  led  rapidly  to  the  ruin  of  the  King  of 
Sardinia.  I  will  endeavour  to  narrate  its  causes  and 
its  various  phases,  such  as  they  appeared  to  me  from 
my  point  of  view. 

M.  de  Talleyrand,  having  been  appointed  by  the 
Executive  Directory  to  the  Ministry  of  Exterior 
I  delations,  had  entered  on  his  office  in  the  month 
of  Thermidor,  year  V.,  and  I  received  on  the  12th  of 
that  month  (July  30,  1707)  an  official  intimation 
of  his  appointment.  The  reputation  which  the  new 
Minister  had  acquired  at  different  epochs  of  the 
Revolution  and  the  fame  of  his  diplomatic  ability 
had  preceded  him  to  the  post  he  was  about  to 
occupy.  Tims  I  naturally  expected  that  my  new 
chief  would  maintain  a  correspondence  with  me  at 
oner,  more  regular  and  more  statesmanlike  than  ilia! 


M.    DE   TALLEYRAND.  205 

which  lils  predecessor  had  kept  up.  I  hastened 
to  lay  the  situation  of  the  country  before  him, 
hoping  to  receive  instructions  for  my  guidance 
in  the  conduct  of  affairs,  which  would  enable  me  to 
take  a  firmer  attitude.  But  these  hopes  were  disap- 
pointed ;  I  received  no  answer  to  my  communication, 
and,  in  fact,  it  soon  became  evident  to  me  that 
M.  de  Talleyrand,  observing  the  agitation  in  the 
Directory  and  Councils,  and  still  uncertain  which 
side  he  should  take,  hesitated  to  commit  himself 
to  any  pronounced  opinion  in  his  political  corre- 
spondence. Meanwhile,  events  were  hastening  on. 
The  Cabinet  of  Turin,  better  informed  than  I  as  to 
what  was  taking  place  in  Paris,  began  to  flatter  itself 
that  the  Royalist  party  of  the  Rue  de  Clichy  was 
getting  the  upper  hand,  and  would  accomplish  the 
restoration  of  the  Bourbons.  The  hopes  to  which 
the  possibility  of  such  an  event  gave  birth  increased 
every  day,  and  the  Sardinian  Government  was 
already  taking  a  tone  of  self-assertion  in  its  dealings 
with  us  which  it  had  not  hitherto  adopted. 

From  these  various  indications  I  foreboded  an  ap- 
proaching crisis,  but  of  what  character  I  was  unable 
to  divine.  As,  however,  I  was  persuaded  that  what- 
ever its  nature  might  be,  Buonaparte  would  inevitably 
lay  hold  of  it  and  up  to  a  certain  point  direct  it, 
because  one  of  the  two  parties  must  necessarily  turn 
to  him  to  obtain  his    support,  which  neither  could 


206      ME3IOIBS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MEL1TO. 

do  without,  I  resolved  to  go  to  him  at  Milan.  I 
therefore  accepted  an  invitation  to  visit  him,  which 
he  made  me  before  his  departure  for  Udine,  where 
the  Conference  for  the  peace  with  Austria  was  to  be 
held.  MM.  de  Meerfeld,  de  Gallo,  and  Clarke  had 
already  arrived  there,  and  were  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  General  Buonaparte.  But  he  would  not  start 
until  he  had  made  certain  arrangements  at  Milan, 
rendered  necessary  by  coming  events  in  Paris. 

I  left  Turin  on  the  24th  Thermidor  (August  11), 
and  reached  Milan  on  the  following  day.  I  found 
Buonaparte  established  in  the  Serbelloni*  Palace, 
and  more  occupied  with  Paris  affairs  than  with 
the  negotiations.  During  the  week  which  I  passed 
at  Milan,  I  had  frequent  conversations  with  him, 
and  I  will  here  summarise  their  principal  results. 

The  Executive  Directory  and  the  Legislative 
Councils  were  divided ;  a  numerous  section  wished 
to  restore  the  Bourbons ;  but  this  party  was 
unsupported  alike  by  public  opinion  and  public 
sentiment.  It  was  not  even  unanimous  in  its 
views;  several  members  of  the  Clichy  clique 
merely  desired  the  overthrow  of  that  portion  of 
1  lie  Directory  which  had  sprung  from  the  Conven- 
tion, but  did  not  desire  the  restoration  of  the  ancient 
dynasty.       Among    those    who    went    farther,    some 

Serbelloni,  at  that  time   President  <>f  tho  Directory  of  tlio 
Cis- Alpine  Repnblio,  resided  in  the  Palace  of  the  Government. 


THE  CLICITY   CLIQUE.  207 

would  only  consent  to  a  restoration  under  constitu- 
tional conditions  ;  others  wanted  a  conditional  re- 
storation, and  aspired,  therefore,  to  a  complete 
counter-revolution.  The  opposite  side,  which  was 
composed  of  the  former  members  of  the  Convention, 
and  all  those  who  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
events  of  the  Revolution,  had  the  advantage  over 
its  adversaries  of  being  perfectly  agreed  upon  its 
aim — the  destruction  by  violent  measures  of  the 
Royalist  party  ;  postponing  all  dispute  as  to  the 
distribution  of  authority  until  it  should  be  recon- 
quered. The  people,  tired  of  coups  d'etat,  and  of 
the  frequent  alternations  of  power,  which  for  four 
years  had  been  seized  upon  by  opposite  parties  in 
turn,  were  not  only  neutral,  but  indifferent  as  to 
the  result,  and  would  be  mere  spectators  of  the  new 
scenes  that  were  being  secretly  arranged.  Thus 
neither  party  could  rely  on  the  people,  and  conse- 
quently neither  attempted  to  stir  them  up  to  action. 
This,  however,  was  not  the  case  with  the  troops. 
Their  influence  must  inevitably  insure  the  success  of 
the  party  for  which  they  should  pronounce,  and  there- 
fore both  parties  sought  their  support.  The  Clichy 
party  had  intrigued  with  Pichegru  and  Moreau ; 
but  although  those  generals,  as  subsequent  events 
have  sufficiently  proved,  declared  themselves  in  its 
favour,  they  acted,  there  is  no  doubt,  against  the  feel- 
ing of  the  soldiery,  which  at  this  time  was  distinctly 


208      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


republican,  and  it  was  only  by  underhand  means 
that  they  could  hope,  not  indeed  to  bring  them  over 
to  the  side  of  the  party  they  wished  to  serve,  but, 
at  best,  to  mislead  and  render  them  inactive  during 
the  struggle. 

It  was  not  thus  with  Buonaparte  and  the  army 
of  Italy,  and  on  them  the  democratic  party  built  all 
its  hopes.  Success  was  assured  if  those  troops  and 
their  chiefs  declared  themselves  in  its  favour,  and 
nothing  ought  to  be  neglected  to  secure  their 
support. 

Talleyrand  was  the  principal  intermediary  in  the 
communications  which  were  now  established  between 
this  party  and  Buonaparte,  and  I  found  myself  at 
Milan  at  the  very  moment  when  those  communica- 
tions were  most  active.  The  General  had  just 
formed  his  decision,  for  the  following  reasons,  as 
I  heard  from  his  own  lips. 

Nothing  could  be  more  opposed  to  the  projects 
he  entertained  than  the  recall  of  the  Bourbons. 
That  would  ruin  all  the  ambitious  hopes,  which  he 
afterwards  realised,  and,  judging  from  some  docu- 
ments found  in  a  portfolio  belonging  to  the  Count 
d'Entraigues  at  the  time  of  his  arrest  in  Venice,  no 
doubt  could  exist  that  their  recall  was  the  real 
object  of  the  majority  of  the  Clichy  party.*     Talley- 

This    portfolio   was    opened  at    Montebello,    5th    Prairial, 
year    Y.    (May    24,    L797),    by    Berthier,    in    the    presence   of 


BUONAPARTE'S  JEALOUSY.  209 


rand  also,  who  from  personal  motives  was  equally 
averse  to  the  return  of  the  ancient  dynasty,  strongly 
urged  him  to  a  course  opposed  to  its  recall.  Other 
motives  also,  of  a  secondary  nature,  which  were 
not,  however,  without  influence  on  such  a  mind  as 
his,  contributed  to  inflame  him.  He  would  endure 
no  military  renown  but  his  own ;  all  other  annoyed 
him.  Carnot  in  the  Directory  was  an  offence ;  for  the 
reputation  he  had  acquired  during  the  Convention 
by  the  ability  he  had  displayed  and  the  direction 
he  had  given  to  the  war,  he  retained  as  a  member 
of  the  Government.  That  which  Moreau  had  made 
for  himself  with  the  army  of  the  Rhine  was  no 
less  repugnant  to  Buonaparte,  who  encouraged  an 
angry  rivalry  between  that  army  and  the  army  of 
Italy,  based  chiefly  upon  the  outward  forms  adopted 
in  each.  The  army  of  Italy  glorified  in  being  a 
revolutionary  and  citizen  body,  while  that  of  the 
Rhine  passed  for  an  army  of  Messieurs,  as  it  was  called 


Buonaparte  and  Clarke.  I  do  not  know  whether  its  contents 
were  immediately  forwarded  to  Paris,  or  whether  Buonaparte 
held  thein  in  reserve.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  they  were 
not  published  until  the  18th  Fructidor  (see  the  'Moniteur' 
of  the  23rd  of  that  month).  I  onlv  heard  of  these  docu- 
ments  on  the  occasion  of  my  journey  to  Milan,  through  the 
conversations  of  which  I  give  a  summary.  But  it  is  evident 
that  Buonaparte  had  alluded  to  them  in  the  interview  which 
took  place  in  Prairial  between  himself,  M.  de  Melzi  and  me, 
and  this  may  be  an  explanation  of  certain  things  which  he 
said  on  that  occasion. 

VOL.    I.  P 


210      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

at  Milan.  One  division,  brought  by  Bernadotte 
from  Germany  to  Italy,  and  which  was  distinguished 
by  more  polished  manners  and  by  the  denomination 
of  Messieurs,  at  that  time  considered  to  be  an 
aristocratic  form,  had  become  a  subject  of  sharp 
jesting,  often  degenerating  into  serious  quarrels 
between  the  officers  and  men  of  the  two  armies. 
Buonaparte  encouraged  these  dissensions  by  constant 
sarcasms  pointed  at  Bernadotte  and  Moreau.  In 
fact,  he  flattered  himself  that  the  party  to  which 
he  should  secure  the  victory  would  remain  entirely 
dependent  upon  him,  and  that  he  should  govern 
in  its  name.  He  was  mistaken  in  this,  and  he 
soon  discovered  that  to  have  bestowed  power  is 
not  a  reason  for  being  admitted  to  share  it.  His 
Minister,  Talleyrand,  was  also  obliged  to  acknow- 
ledge the  truth  of  this  maxim  after  the  Restoration. 
To  resume.  Buonaparte  had  no  sooner  made 
up  his  mind,  from  the  motives  I  have  just  enu- 
merated, to  back  the  Revolutionary  party  in  the 
Directory,  than  he  began  to  act  on  his  decision  with 
all  the  vigour  and  activity  of  his  impetuous  character. 
Availing  himself  as  a  pretext  of  the  anniversary  of 
the  14th  of  July,  1780,  he  organised  a  military  fete 
at  Milan  on  the  1st  Thermidor  (July  10).  Five 
divisions  of  the  army  were  brought  together  to 
solemnize  the  occasion,  and  each  of  them  published 
addresses    vying    with     the     other    in     threats    and 


MILITARY  ADDRESSES.  211 

insults  directed  against  the  Government  of  the 
Republic,  and  the  Monarchical  faction.  The  divi- 
sions commanded  by  Angereau  and  by  Massena 
were  especially  remarkable  for  the  violence  of  their 
language.  "  Are  there  more  obstacles  on  the  road 
to  Paris  than  on  that  to  Vienna  ?  "*  "  Tremble  ! 
from  the  Adige  to  the  Rhine  and  to  the  Seine 
there  is  but  a  step."f  Such  was  the  text  more  or 
less  enlarged  on  in  these  diatribes.  The  toasts  at 
the  banquet  were  all  conceived  in  the  same  spirit, 
and  announced  similar  intentions.  The  address 
of  Bernadotte's  division  only  is  in  less  highly 
coloured  language,  and  is,  indeed,  remarkable  for 
moderation,};  a  circumstance  which  did  not  tend 
to  restore  harmony  between  that  division,  which 
had  been  only  lately  incorporated  with  the  army 
of  Italy,  and  its  original  regiments. 

After  this  demonstration,  which  left  no  doubt  of 
Buonaparte's  intentions  and  created  a  profound 
impression  in  Paris,  he  had  no  longer  any  appear- 
ances to  keep  up ;  moreover,  it  was  not  in  his  nature 
to  shrink  from  consequences,  whatever  they  might 
be,  when  once  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  a  course 
of  action.     He  therefore  kept  a  body  of  troops  in 

*  Address  of  Massena' s  division  ('Monitcur'  of  the  26th 
Thermidor,  year  V.). 

f  Address  of  Angereau's  division  (Ibid.). 
X  See  '  Moniteur  '  of  same  date. 

p  2 


212      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

readiness  to  enter  France,  if  that  which  Hoche  was 
already  leading  on  Paris  should  not  be  sufficient, 
and  he  had  already  sent  forward  Angereau  to  com- 
mand it.  Angereau  was  a  brave  and  daring  leader, 
but  impulsive,  and  without  any  intellectual  capacity. 
He  had  also  sent  Bernadotte  to  Paris,  the  bearer  of 
twenty-one  flags  taken  at  the  battle  of  Rivoli,  and 
in  a  letter  to  the  Directory  announcing  their  de- 
spatch tie  had  highly  praised  that  General.  But 
his  chief  object  was  to  get  rid  of  a  man  with  whom 
he  was  already  not  on  good  terms,  and  whose  in- 
fluence he  wanted  to  weaken. 

He  was  now  master  of  the  field,  at  the  head  of  a 
triumphant  and  devoted  army,  whose  patriotism 
and  unreasoning  love  of  liberty  he  had  just  roused 
to  an  enthusiastic  pitch ;  he  reckoned  on  unfailing 
success,  and  even  flattered  himself  that  he  might  at 
once  make  use  of  it  to  further  the  designs  he  had 
formed,  and  which  he  realised  two  years  later. 
He  appeared  to  me  to  reckon  especially  on  the 
effect  which  the  publication  of  the  papers  found  in 
D'Entraigues'  portfolio  would  produce  ;  this  led  me 
to  presume  that  he  had  not  laid  them  before  the 
Directory  until  after  lie  had  resolved  on  supporting 
the  Revolutionary  party.  As  he  had  still,  how- 
ever, to  wait,  before  his  departure  for  Udine,  for 
some  letters  from  Paris,  which  did  not  arrive  until 
two  or  tli ice  days  later,  he  profited  by  the  kind  of 


A    TBIP   TO  MAGGIOBE.  213 

inaction  which  always  supervenes  between  great  re- 
solutions and  their  execution,  to  make  an  excursion 
to  Lake  Maggiore ;  and  he  invited  me  to  accompany 
him.  My  desire  to  see  that  celebrated  lake,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  prolong  my  stay  with  so  extra- 
ordinary a  man,  whom  I  should  have  an  opportunity 
of  knowing  and  appreciating  better  in  the  course 
of  this  little  excursion,  made  me  accept  so  agreeable 
a  proposal  with  readiness. 

We  left  Milan  on  the  1st  Fructidor  (August  18). 
I  had  a  place  in  Buonaparte's  carriage  with  his  wife 
and  Berthier.  During  the  drive,  he  was  gay  and 
animated,  told  us  several  anecdotes  of  his  youth, 
and  said  that  he  had  just  completed  his  twenty-ninth 
year.  He  was  extremely  attentive  to  his  wife, 
frequently  taking  little  conjugal  liberties  that  rather 
embarrassed  Berthier  and  me  ;  but  his  free  and  easy 
manners  were  so  full  of  affection  and  tenderness 
towards  a  woman  as  lovable  as  she  was  good,  that 
they  might  easily  be  excused.  Although  the  con- 
versation occasionally  turned  on  grave  matters,  he 
did  not  betray  the  subject  that  was  engrossing  his 
thoughts.  He  avoided  talking  politics  before 
Berthier,  whom  he  valued  only  for  his  usefulness 
as  chief  of  the  staff,  the  duties  of  which  post  he 
fulfilled  with  marvellous  activity- — no  one  could 
surpass  him  in  that  quality. 

In  speaking  of  Talleyrand,  Buonaparte  took  occa- 


214      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

sion  to  praise  him,  his  humour,  and  his  ability, 
and  in  this  the  General's  wife  agreed.  The  con- 
versation turned  also  on  other  personages  who 
might  play  a  part  in  public  affairs  in  Paris,  and 
among  these,  I  named  Rcederer,  dwelling  on  his 
penetration,  his  ability  as  a  writer  and  his  exten- 
sive knowledge.  Buonaparte,  however,  expressed 
an  extreme  aversion  to  him.  He  severely  censured 
his  conduct  toward  Louis  XYI.  and  the  Royal 
Family  on  the  10th  of  August,  declaring  that  it 
combined  both  treason  and  duplicity,  and  adding 
that  he  could  never  feel  confidence  in  a  man  who 
had  laid  himself  open  to  such  a  reproach.  I  did 
my  best  to  defend  him,  but  Madame  Buonaparte 
did  not  support  me ;  she,  like  Berthier,  kept  silence. 
The  sequel  has  shown  that  Rcederer  succeeded  in 
overcoming  Buonaparte's  aversion ;  probably  his 
services  on  the  18th  Bmmaire  blotted  out  the 
recollection  of  the  10th  of  August. 

After  a  journey  which  the  heat  of  the  season 
made  rather  fatiguing,  although  we  did  most  of  our 
1  ravelling  during  the  night,  we  arrived  at  the  shore 
of  Lake  Maggiore,  and  took  up  our  abode  at  the 
magnificent  palace  erected  in  the  centre  of  Isola 
Bella,  the  most  beautiful  of  the  islands  which  rise 
from  the  bosom  of  the  lake.  I  will  not  enter  here 
into  a  description  of  these  lovely  scenes.  Art  is  un- 
fortunately sometimes  too  conspicuous  in  them;  but 


ISOLA   BELLA.  215 


the  charms  which  they  owe  to  Nature  solely  made 
an  uneffaceable  impression  on  my  mind.  The  snow- 
capped summits  of  St.  Gothard  and  the  Simplon 
reflected  in  the  clear  and  tranquil  waters  of  the  lake  ; 
the  Ticiuo  rushing  in  torrents  from  the  mountain 
heights,  and  mingling  its  waters  with  those  of  that 
vast  reservoir,  whence  it  afterwards  escapes  to  ferti- 
lise the  plains  of  Lombardy  by  countless  streams  ; 
the  smilling  hill-sides  dotted  with  dwellings  which 
bound  the  lake  on  the  north,  and  the  rich  harvest 
covering  the  plains  bathed  by  its  waters  on 
the  south,  all  contributed  at  this  period  of  the  year 
to  render  the  panorama  which  passed  before  our  eyes 
more  splendid  than  at  any  other  season,  and  at  the 
same  time  more  enchanting  on  account  of  its  perfect 
tranquillity.  We  enjoyed  the  delicious  calm;  it 
contrasted  with  the  terrible  scenes  of  war  so  close  to 
us,  and  calmed  the  agitation  into  which  the  j)resenti- 
ment  of  an  uncertain  Future  had  thrown  us. 

Those  two  days  at'  Isola  Bella  were  most  agreeable. 
Walking,  bathing,  and  the  pleasures  of  the  table 
filled  up  our  every  moment,  and  it  was  with  re- 
gret that  we  quitted  the  delightful  scene  to  return 
to  Milan.  There  we  would  have  to  re-enter  the 
vortex  from  which  it  had  been  delightful  to  me  to 
escape,  though  for  so  brief  an  interval. 

After  our  return  from  the  Borromean  Islands,  I 
remained  only  a  few  days  at  Milan.     Buonaparte  at 


1 


216      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

last  started  for  Udine,  and  I  set  out  in  order  to 
resume  the  duties  of  my  post  at  Turin.  Before  we 
parted,  we  had  settled  upon  the  line  of  conduct 
which  I  was  to  pursue  in  the  critical  circumstances 
which  impending  events  in  Paris  would  probably 
bring  about.     The  following  was  the  plan  adopted  : 

1 .  Not  only  was  I  to  take  no  part  in  any  political 
troubles  which  might  break  out  in  Piedmont,  but  to 
tender  an  assurance  that  our  troops  should  even  be 
employed  to  disperse  any  gatherings  of  people  whicl 
might  take  place  on  the  territory  of  the  Cisalpine 
Eepublics  or  of  Genoa,  the  centres  of  insurrection  in 
the  States  of  the  King  of  Sardinia. 

2.  I  was  to  demand  of  the  Sardinian  Government 
that,  in  order  to  carry  out  the  treaty  of  alliance,  the 
ten  thousand  men  to  be  supplied  by  Piedmont  be 
asrain  assembled  at  Novara  in  readiness  to  march, 
if  fresh  hostilities  with  Austria  should  break  out. 

3.  At  the  same  time  that  I  should  require  this 
movement  of  the  troops,  in  order  to  support  the 
negotiations  in  progress  at  Udine,  I  was  to  press 
for  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  alliance  by  the 
Legislative  Council  in  Paris,  as  the  best  guarantee 
to  the  Cabinet  of  Turin  of  the  real  intentions  of  the 
Executive  Directory. 

1.  I  was  to  insist,  however,  since  quiet  had  been 
restored  in  Piedmont,  on  the  cessation  of  severe 
measures  which  were  keeping  up  a  feeling  of  irri- 


M.   DE  PRIOCA.  217 


tation  injurious  to  the  real  interests  of  the  King  of 
Sardinia. 

Furnished  with  these  instructions,  on  the  7th 
Fructidor  I  reached  Turin  (August  22),  where  I  had 
left  M.  Jacob  as  Charge  d' Affaires.  His  corre- 
spondence with  the  Sardinian  Government  during 
my  absence  had  been  principally  on  the  subject  of 
an  unfriendly  discussion  which  had  arisen  between 
the  Minister  and  me  respecting  the  steps  I  had 
taken  to  put  an  end  to  the  excessive  severity  of  the 
Cabinet  of  Turin  towards  those  persons  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  last  insurrection.  M.  de  Prioca 
had  complained  bitterly  at  Paris  of  my  conduct 
in  this  respect,  and  I  was  not  unaware  of  the  fact. 
In  an  interview  with  him  a  few  days  after  my  re- 
turn, during  which  I  again  insisted  on  the  necessity 
of  more  moderate  measures,  advancing  General 
Buonaparte's  opinion  in  support  of  my  demands, 
M.  de  Prioca  replied  that  the  French  Government 
took  no  interest  in  the  fate  of  the  condemned,  and 
had,  on  the  contrary,  highly  approved  of  the  con- 
duct of  the  Piedmontese  Ministry ;  and  in  truth,  M. 
de  Talleyrand,  as  I  have  said  before,  had  disapproved 
of  my  interference,  without,  however,  owning  that 
he  had  used  the  words  attributed  to  him  by  M.  de 
Balbi,  and  which  M.  de  Prioca  had  repeated  to 
me.  It  was  plain,  from  these  facts,  that  the  Cabinet 
of  Turin,  in  the  constant  persuasion  that  a  coming 


218      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MEL  I  TO. 

crisis  would  restore  a  Monarchical  Government  in 
France,  with  which  it  would  be  better  able  to  agree, 
was  using  its  influence  at  Paris  to  get  me  recalled. 
I  do  not  know  whether  in  so  doing  it  acted  wisely  ; 
it  is  certain  that  my  successors  consummated  the  ruin 
of  the  Monarchy ;  and  that  I,  on  the  contrary,  so  far 
as  it  lay  in  my  power,  had  contributed  to  its  preser- 
vation. Nevertheless,  I  endeavoured  with  no  less 
zeal  to  obtain  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  to  which 
the  Sardinian  Government  attached  great  impor- 
tance at  that  time.  But  nothing  decisive  was  done, 
and  the  daily  expectation  of  a  crisis,  which  it  was 
thought  must  occur,  kept  all  business  in  suspense. 

The  catastrophe  was  not  long  delayed.  The  18th 
Fructidor  brought  about  the  ruin  of  the  Rovalist 
party,  but  the  Constitution  of  the  year  III.  fell  with 
it.  That  day  dealt  it  a  blow  from  which  it  never 
entirely  recovered ;  the  1 8th  Brumaire  completed 
the  work,  and  on  both  the  one  and  the  other  oc- 
casion Buonaparte  was  the  agent  of  its  destruc- 
tion. It  had  not  been  in  existence  two  years  when 
it  received  this  first  great  check.  Afterwards  it 
declined  away,  and  until  its  final  overthrow  was  a 
Revolutionary  rather  than  a  regular  Government. 

A  few  days  after  t lie  18th  Fructidor,  1  received 
a  letter  from  M.  de  Talleyrand,  probably  a  copy  of  a 
circular  letter  addressed  to  all  the  diplomatic  agents, 
containing  a  complete  Apologia  of  thai  day.     1  com- 


THE   TREATY.  219 


municated  this  document  to  the  Sardinian  Govern- 
ment, which,  being  forced  to  renounce  the  imperious 
attitude  it  had  hitherto  taken  and  more  alarmed  than 
ever  for  its  own  existence,  now  openly  threatened  by 
the  triumph  of  the  democratic  party  in  France, 
showed  itself  better  disposed  and  amenable  than 
before.  Fresh  requests  were  made  to  me  to  obtain 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  alliance ;  but  the 
shape  that  Buonaparte  was  giving  to  the  peace- 
negotiations  at  Udine  made  the  aid  that  had  been 
asked  of  Piedmont  less  necessary,  and  the  expec- 
tation of  this  always-deferred  ratification  prolonged 
the  suspense  of  the  Turin  Cabinet  from  day  to  day. 
At  last  the  ardently-desired  instrument  arrived. 
Although  M.  de  Talleyrand  had  written  to  me  on 
the  14th  Vende'miaire,  year  IV.  (October  5,  1797), 
that  circumstances  would  no  longer  permit  us  to 
contemplate  this  alliance,  the  Directory,  probably 
urged  by  Buonaparte,  suddenly  changed  front,  and 
two  or  three  days  afterwards  sent  the  treaty  to  the 
two  Councils  for  ratification.  But  the  alliance 
was  effected  too  late  to  save  Piedmont ;  moreover, 
Royalty  was  about  to  lose  its  only  support  in  Italy. 
Buonaparte  was  to  remain  there  no  longer,  and  his 
influence  on  the  fate  of  Italy  was  on  the  point  of 
ceasing.  In  order  to  make  these  matters  plain,  I 
must  go  back  a  little. 

I  have  sufficiently  explained  Buonaparte's  motives 


220      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

for  supporting  the  democratic  party  in  the  Direc- 
tory, and  his  adhesion  secured  its  triumph  on  the 
18  th  Fructidor.  It  was  sufficiently  clear  that  the 
principles  professed  by  this  party  were  not  those 
which  the  General  wished  to  defend,  and  that  he  had 
in  no  wise  adopted  them ;  but  he  was  obliged  to 
choose  between  two  parties,  of  which  one,  had  it 
carried  the  day,  would  necessarily  have  brought  back 
the  Bourbons  and  ruined  for  ever  his  ulterior 
designs,  so  he  decided  in  favour  of  that  party  which 
some  day  he  might  more  easily  overthrow,  and  on 
whose  ruins  he  might  establish  his  own  power. 
Perhaps  he  even  believed  the  catastrophe  to  be  then 
at  hand,  and  it  was  only  on  examining  the  situation 
more  closely  that  he  was  convinced  the  moment  had 
not  yet  arrived.  In  any  case,  it  was  needful  that 
Peace  should  be  the  first  gift  of  the  new  Government 
that  owed  its  birth  to  the  18th  Fructidor,  in  order  to 
compensate  for  the  alarm  which  that  day  had  caused 
every  sincere  friend  of  liberty.  The  Directory  felt 
this,  and  no  longer  opposed  any  measure  which 
might  bring  about  that  result.  On  the  other  hand, 
Buonaparte,  observing  the  eagerness  of  the  Directory, 
justly  fen  red  that  the  matter  might  be  concluded 
without  him  ;  and  this  would  indeed  have  been  easily 
done,  either  by  carrying  the  negotiations  on  in 
France,  or  by  entrusting  them  to  Angcreau,  who 
bad  just  been  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 


THE  SIGNATURE.  221 


army  in  Germany.  Finally,  he  would  cede  to  no 
other  the  credit  of  making  peace,  for  he  intended  to 
assume  that  France  and  the  Directory  itself  were 
beholden  to  hirn  for  it.  He  therefore  hastened  on 
the  end.  The  negotiations,  which  had  dragged  along 
for  more  than  six  months,  were  now  carried  on  with 
despatch,  and  peace  was  concluded  at  Campo-Formio 
(near  Udine)  on  the  26th  Vendemiaire,  year  IV. 
(October  17,  1797),  one  month  and  twelve  days 
after  the  18th  Fructidor.  The  treaty  is  signed  by 
Buonaparte  alone,  in  the  name  of  the  French 
Government.  Clarke  was  not  admitted  to  the 
honour  of  signing,  although  he  had  gone  to  Udine 
as  one  of  the  Plenipotentaries.  Buonaparte  suffered 
no  other  name  beside  his,  that  the  gratitude  on  which 
he  relied  might  not  be  divided. 

But  this  gratitude  weighed  especially  on  the 
Directory,  which  soon  showed  how  heavy  a  burden  it 
was.  Buonaparte  had  sent  Berthier  and  Monge  to 
the  Directory  as  bearers  of  the  treaty  of  Campo- 
Formio.  They  reached  Paris  on  the  4th  Brumaire 
(October  25).  The  Directory  ratified  the  treaty 
on  the  5th,  and  on  the  same  day  appointed 
Buonaparte  Commander-in-Chief  of  an  army  which 
was  to  be  assembled  on  the  coast,  and  to  which 
was  given  the  pompous  name  of  the  Army  of 
England. 

By   this   appointment    Buonaparte  was   snatched 


222      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

from  the  scenes  of  his  conquests,  and  separated  from 
the  army  he  had  so  often  led  to  victory,  and  which 
was  entirely  devoted  to  him.  The  ties  which  had 
heen  formed  between  the  illustrious  Captain  and  his 
soldiers  were  broken,  and  the  Directory  hoped 
to  escape  from  all  the  attempts  upon  which  an 
ambitious  mind,  relying  on  so  many  glorious  deeds 
and  on  the  devotion  of  the  troops,  might  venture 
against  a  power  still  dazzled  by  an  unexpected  ele- 
vation, a  power,  nevertheless,  supported  neither  by 
public  opinion  nor  by  renown,  and  which  the  least 
shock  might  overthrow. 

Although  the  appointment  of  Buonaparte  to  the 
command  of  the  new  army  was  accompanied  by 
the  most  flattering  expressions  of  esteem,  and  the 
Directory  added  a  striking  mark  of  confidence  by 
entrusting  the  political  conduct  of  the  negotiations 
about  to  be  opened  at  Bastadt  for  treating  for  peace 
with  the  German  Empire,*  to  the  Conqueror  and 
Peacemaker,  Buonaparte  could  not  mistake  the 
real  meaning  of  the  Directory.  From  that  moment 
he  formed  a  resolution  to  remain  in  France  only  if 
he  could  in  one  way  or  another  place  himself  at  the 
head  of  affairs,  but  if  he  should  find  that  the  times 
were  not  yet  ripe  to  afford  him  the  position  he  aimed 
at,  as  the  only  one  suited  to  his  genius,  to  absent 

*  This  Congress  was  to  take  placo  in  virtue  of  one  of  the 
articles  of  the  treaty  of  Campo-Formio. 


THE   TURIN  CABINET.  223 


himself    on    some    extraordinary    expedition    which 
would  add  to  his  fame. 

The  news  of  the  recall  of  General  Buonaparte, 
and  the  absolute  silence  of  the  Campo-Formio  Treaty 
as  to  Piedmont,  threw  the  Turin  Cabinet  into  the 
greatest  ferment.  It  addressed  itself  once  more  to 
me,  but  I  could  serve  it  but  little.  I  foresaw  already 
that  immediately  on  Buonaparte's  departure  from 
Italy  the  Revolutionary  party  would  again  get  the 
upper  hand ;  that  I  should  be  by  no  means  favour- 
ably regarded  by  that  party,  which,  as  M.  Botta 
wrote,*  looked  upon  me  as  a  lukewarm  republican, 
and  that  it  would  very  soon  be  powerful  enough  to 
remove  me.  I  could  therefore  neither  sway  the 
action  of  the  Directory,  nor  tranquillise  the  un- 
easiness of  the  Court  of  Turin  on  this  subject.  M. 
de  Talleyrand,  moreover,  instructed  me  to  avoid 
entering  on  any  explanation  respecting  the  conse- 
quences of  the  treaty  with  Austria ;  so  that  the 
reserve  that  I  was  compelled  to  adopt  increased  the 
alarm  of  the  Government,  which  perceived  that  it 
was  in  more  danger  than  ever  at  the  very  time 
when  it  had  reckoned  on  a  greater  security.  My 
relations  with  it  dwindled  day  by  day,  until  our 
interviews  were  restricted  to  discussions  relating  to 
the  execution  of  the  secret  convention  annexed  to 
the  treaty  of  alliance  of  the  20th  Germinal,  year  V., 
*  In  his  '  Histoire  des  Guerres  d'ltalie.' 


224      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

by  which  the  island  of  Sardinia  was  ceded  to  us ; 
discussions  which  resulted  in  nothing,  and  to  a 
rather  troublesome  correspondence  on  the  emigres 
in  Nice  and  Savoy,  to  whom  the  Directory,  which 
had  become  more  suspicious,  now  wanted  to  forbid 
asylum  there.  It  was  at  this  time  that,  having 
been  again  questioned  respecting  the  residence  of 
the  Comtesse  d'Artois  at  Turin,  I  succeeded  in 
procuring  the  exemption  of  that  Princess  from  the 
laws  against  emigration,  which  were  then  being 
rigorously  enforced. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  in  Piedmont,  and 
such  were  the  causes  that  had  brought  it  about, 
when  Berthier,  after  he  had  presented  the  treaty  of 
Campo-Formio  at  a  solemn  audience  on  the  10th 
Brumaire,  year  VI.  (October  31,  1797),*  returned 
to  Milan  and  took  command  of  the  army  of  Italy, 
which  Buonaparte,  who  was  preparing  for  depar- 
ture, had  handed  over  to  him.f     Joseph  Buonaparte 

*  Sco  tho  '  Monitour '  of  12th  Brumaire,  for  tho  details  of  this 
ceremony  and  the  curious  speeches  delivered  b}'  Borthier  and 
Monge. 

f  Bernadotte,  who  had  roturned  to  Milan  about  a  month 
previously,  and  had  resumed  tho  command  of  his  division, 
expected  to  succeed  Buonaparte,  but,  probably  becauso  tho 
hi  rectory  had  already  formed  the  hostilo  views  with  regard 
to  Italy,  which  wero  afterwards  made  manifest,  and  which 
Bernadotte  would  not  perhaps  have  zealously  seconded,  he 
was  appointed  to  the  Fmibassy  of  Vienna,  and  left  Milan  for 
Paris   towards  the  middle  <>f   Brumaire.      I   saw  him  on  Id's 


BUONAPARTE  AT   TURIN.  225 

had  already  parted  with  his  brother  and  gone,  as 
ambassador,  to  Rome.  He  was  accompanied  by 
his  wife,  his  youngest  brother,  Jerome  Buonaparte, 
and  his  sister  Caroline. 

Buonaparte  left  Milan  on  the  26th  Brumaire,  and 
arrived  at  Turin  on  the  morning  of  the  28th.  His 
wife  had  preceded  him  by  a  few  days,  on  her  way  to 
Paris.  She  dined  at  my  house,  and  brought  with 
her  a  casket  containing  some  valuable  trinkets,  from 
which  she  could  not  bear  to  be  separated  for  a 
moment. 

Buonaparte  had  sent  me  word  that  he  would  be 
at  Turin  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  Brumaire ;  but 
he  did  not  leave  Milan  until  the  night  of  the  26th, 
too  late  to  keep  his  promise.  I  waited  for  him  in 
vain  until  midnight  and  then  withdrew. 

I  was  aroused  at  half-past  two  in  the  morning  of 
the  28th.  Buonaparte  had  just  arrived,  and  while 
the  dinner  that  had  been  prepared  for  the  preceding 
evening  was  being  got  ready,  I  remained  for  an  hour 
by  the  fireside  alone  with  the  Greneral.  From  notes 
I  made  at  the  time,  I  will  now  give  an  exact  account 
of  our  interview. 

He  took  up  the  conversation  almost  where  he  had 


way  through  Turin,  when  he  informed  me  of  his  appointment, 
which  was  not  as  yet  officially  known.  He  did  not  proceed 
to  Vienna  until  the  beginning  of  Ventose,  year  VI.  (end  of 
February  1798). 


VOL. 


22G      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

dropped  it  on  the  occasion  of  our  last  interviews 
at  Milan.  He  defended  the  resolution  he  had  taken 
to  support  the  18th  Fructidor,  by  arguments  which 
I  have  already  recorded.  "  But  do  not  imagine," 
continued  he,  "that  I  resolved  on  so  doing  because 
of  any  conformity  of  ideas  with  those  of  the  men 
whom  I  supported.  1  did  not  choose  that  the 
Bourbons  should  return,  especially  if  brought  back 
by  Moreau's  army  and  by  Pichegru.  The  papers 
found  in  d'Entraigues'  portfolio  had  sufficiently 
enlightened  me  as  to  the  projects  of  those  two 
Generals.  I  do  not  care  to  play  the  part  of  Monk  ;  I 
will  not  play  it  myself,  and  I  do  not  choose  that 
others  shall  do  so.  But  those  Paris  lawyers  who 
have  got  into  the  Directory*  understand  nothing  of 
government.  They  are  poor  creatures.  I  am  going 
to  see  what  they  want  to  do  at  Rastadt ;  but  I  doubt 
much  that  we  shall  understand  each  other,  or 
long  agree  together.  They  are  jealous  of  me,  I 
know,  and  notwithstanding  all  their  flattery,  I  am 
not  their  dupe ;  they  fear  more  than  they  love  me. 
They  were  in  a  great  hurry  to  make  me  General  of 
the  army  of  England,  so  that  they  might  get  me  out 
of  Italy,  where  I  am  the  master,  and  am  more  of  a 
sovereign  than  commander  of  an  army.  They  will 
see   how  things   go  on  when  I    am  not  there.     I   am 

*  Merlin  (of  Douai)  and  Francois  de  Ncufehatcan,  who  had 
been  elected  in  place  of  Barthelemy  and  Carnot. 


BUONAPARTE  AT  TURIN.  227 

leaving  Berthier,  but  he  is  not  fit  for  the  chief 
command,  and,  I  predict,  will  only  make  blunders. 
As  for  myself,  my  dear  Miot,  I  may  inform  you,  I 
can  no  longer  obey ;  I  have  tasted  command,  and  I 
cannot  give  it  up.  I  have  made  up  my  mind,  if 
I  cannot  be  master  I  shall  leave  France  ;  I  do  not 
choose  to  have  done  so  much  for  her  and  then  hand 
her  over  to  lawyers.  As  for  this  country  "  (speaking 
of  Piedmont),  "  it  will  not  be  at  rest  for  long.  I  have 
done  all  in  my  power  to  secure  the  tranquillity  of  the 
King,  but  the  Directory  is  surrounded  by  a  set  of 
patriots  and  idealists  who  understand  nothing  of 
politics.  They  will  set  Italy  in  flames,  and  get  us 
driven  out  some  day." 

"  In  that  case,"  I  replied,  "  I  do  not  think  they  will 
leave  me  here.  I  am  far  from  sharing  their  exag- 
gerated ideas.  I  have  got  on  well  with  you,  but  I 
do  not  think  I  could  get  on  with  others.  Will  you 
ask  for  an  appointment  in  Germany  for  me  ?  " 

Buonaparte  promised  that  he  would  do  so.  I 
spoke  to  him  next  of  the  Court  of  Turin.  "  I  will 
not  go  to  it,"  he  answered  ;  "  I  want  no  fetes,  no 
attentions.  I  do  not  choose  to  deceive,  and  my 
presence  at  Court  or  an  interview  with  the  King 
would  raise  hopes  which  I  could  not  realise ;  he 
would  believe  himself  to  be  secure  if  I  accepted 
distinctions  and  favours  from  him ;  and  he  would 
find  out  his  mistake." 

Q  2 


228      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Accordingly,  during  the  thirteen  hours  that  he 
passed  at  Turin  he  did  not  leave  my  house.  When 
our  conversation  was  over,  we  sat  down  to  table.  It 
was  then  four  in  the  morning. 

Day  had  hardly  dawned  when  a  crowd,  attracted 
by  curiosity  and  the  desire  of  seeing  so  famous  a 
General,  assembled  before  my  house.  The  King  sent 
one  of  his  principal  officers  with  compliments  on  the 
part  of  his  Majesty.  Buonaparte  afterwards  received 
the  Ministers,  and  welcomed  M.  de  Saint-Marsan 
with  special  fervour.  He  also  received  the  generals 
and  superior  officers  who  were  in  Turin,  as  well  as 
some  private  individuals  who  tried  to  induce  him 
to  favour  a  revolution  in  Piedmont.  But  he  gave 
no  heed  to  these  suggestions.  In  the  course  of  the 
morning  the  King  sent  him  a  very  fine  Sardinian 
horse.  The  Queen  *  had  hung  on  the  animal's  neck 
a  necklace  of  precious  stones,  the  last  of  her  jewels ; 
she  had  sacrificed  all  the  others  to  the  needs  of  the 
State.  Buonaparte  could  not  venture  to  refuse 
either  the  horse  or  the  necklace,  but  he  seemed 
moved  by  this  pathetic  gift  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  was  offered.  To  the  King's  officers 
who  had  brought  it  he  presented  snuff-boxes  set  in 
diamonds,  and  valuable  rings,  and  made  presents  to 
the  royal  household  greatly  exceeding  in  value 
those  which  lie  had  accepted. 

*  Madamo  Clotildo  of  France,  sister  to  Louis  XVI. 


BUONAPARTE  LEAVES   TURIN.  229 

He  drove  away  in  his  carriage  at  four  in  the 
afternoon,  crossed  Mont  Cenis  the  next  day,  and 
passing  through  Switzerland  arrived  at  Bale  on 
the  5th  Frimaire  (Nov.  25).  He  proceeded  thence 
to  Rastadt,  where  he  remained  only  a  short  time, 
and  finally  reached  Paris  on  the  16th  Frimaire 
(December  6). 

At  the  time  of  Buonaparte's  departure  the  Cabinet 
of  Turin,  becoming  more  and  more  uneasy,  had 
caused  some  suggestions  to  be  made  to  him  by  M.  de 
Saint-Marsan,  to  the  effect  that  Sardinia  should  be 
represented  at  the  Congress  of  Rastadt ;  but  they 
were  evaded.  I,  however,  consented  to  grant  an 
ordinary  traveller's  passport  for  Grermany  to  the 
Cavaliere  Napioni,  by  means  of  which  he  proceeded 
to  Rastadt.  The  Court  of  Turin,  coldly  treated  by 
France,  was  trying,  at  that  time  to  ally  itself  with 
Austria,  which  just  then  was  re-entering  Italy  by 
the  cession  of  Venice,  as  stipulated  in  the  treaty  of 
peace  at  Campo-Formio.  But  all  these  endeavours, 
all  these  expedients  of  a  constrained  policy,  were 
destined  to  failure,  from  the  force  of  circumstances, 
and  the  new  departure  which  affairs  had  taken  in 
France  since  the  18th  Fructidor.  In  virtue  of  the 
first  treaty  of  the  26th  Floreal,  year  IV.  (May  15, 
1796)  we  held  several  fortified  places  in  Piedmont ;  * 

*  Coni,  Ceva,  Tortona,  Exilles,  la  Brunette,  Alexandria,  &c. 
See  Article  12  of  treaty  ('  Moniteur '  of  4th  Prairial,  year  IV.). 


230      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


and  so  long  as  Buonaparte  remained  at  the  head  of 
the  army  of  Italy,  the  commandants  of  the  French 
troops  in  these  places  exercised  military  authority 
only.  But  hardly  had  he  crossed  the  Alps,  than 
those  commandants  began  to  assume  a  political 
attitude,  assisted  instead  of  restraining  the  enter- 
prises of  agitators,  and  promulgated  orders  for  the 
expulsion  of  emigres  from  Nice  and  Savoy,  before  the 
question  of  right  of  asylum  had  been  decided  between 
the  French  and  Sardinian  Governments.  General 
Casabianca,  renowned  for  his  military  feats,  and 
especially  for  the  defence  of  Calvi  in  1794,  but  in 
other  respects  a  passionate  and  reckless  man,  par- 
ticularly distinguished  himself  by  every  kind  of 
violence.  I  sent  complaints  of  his  conduct  to  Paris, 
but  was  not  listened  to. 

Casabianca  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  Barras, 
in  which  I  was  not  spared  by  a  man  who  had  much 
to  do  with  the  overthrow  of  the  throne  of  the  kings 
of  Sardinia.  It  would,  however,  be  giving  him  too 
much  credit  to  suppose  that  he  acted  thus  either 
through  conviction  or  from  principle;  he  was  merely 
an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  secret  agents 
employed  by  the  Directory  in  Italy. 


(     231     ) 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Author  is  recalled  from  the  Embassy  at  Turin,  and  is 
succeeded  by  Ginguene — Joseph  Buonaparte,  having  left 
Eome  after  the  assassination  of  General  Duphot,  stays  with 
the  Author  at  Turin,  on  his  way  to  Paris— Berthier  marches 
on  Eome,  overthrows  the  Pope's  Government  and  proclaims 
the  Roman  Eepublic — Monge  and  Dannou,  being  sent  by  the 
Directory  to  organise  the  new  Eepublic,  pass  through 
Turin — The  hostile  dispositions  of  the  Directory  towards  the 
King  of  Sardinia  are  more  and  more  openly  displayed — 
Ginguene,  accompanied  by  Garat,  arrives  at  Turin  on  his 
way  to  Naples  as  Ambassador  there — The  Author  presents 
his  letters  of  recall  to  the  King  of  Sardinia,  and  takes  ad- 
vantage of  his  leisure  to  make  an  excursion  in  the  Alps — 
On  returning,  he  leaves  for  Paris — Sketch  of  the  state  of 
Italy  at  the  beginning  of  1798,  and  of  the  events  that  took 
place  after  the  departure  of  the  Author. 

Towards  the  end  of  1797,  when  the  storm  that  hung 
over  Piedmont  was  gathering  volume  from  every 
quarter,  I  learned  from  a  letter  written  by  the 
Minister  of  Exterior  Relations,  on  the  5th  Nivose, 
year  XI.  (December  25,  1797),  that  the  Directory 
had  thought  proper  to  recall  me,  and  to  appoint  M. 
Gingue'ne'  as  my  successor.     As,  however,  this  letter 


232      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

did  not  assign  any  motive  for  my  recall,  I  remained 
officially  ignorant  of  the  reasons  for  that  step,  but  I 
have  said  enough  to  make  them  intelligible  to  the 
reader.     From  the  moment  that  I  was  apprised  of 
my  recall,  I  began  to  long  ardently  for  the  arrival 
of  my  successor.    The  Sardinian  Government,  which 
was  probably  informed  that  I  had  been  recalled  be- 
fore I  knew  the  fact,  considered  itself  dispensed  from 
any  consideration  for  me.     The  disturbances  which 
were  breaking  out  in  every  direction,  and  by  which 
the  safety  of  the  French  soldiers  who  passed  through 
Piedmont  was  frequently  endangered,  gave  rise  to  a 
disagreeable  and  fruitless  correspondence.    I  received 
no    directions    from    my    Government,    and    I    was 
ignorant  of  the  instructions  that  had  been  given  to 
my  successor.    The  latter  unfortunately  had  resolved 
on  converting  a  diplomatic  journey  into  one  of  self- 
improvement,  and  after  having  taken  two  months  to 
make  up  his  mind  to  leave  Paris,  he  turned  his  steps 
towards  Switzerland,  and  did    not    arrive  in  Turin 
until  more  than  three  months  after  his  nomination. 

Those  three  months  of  suspense  were  very 
painful  to  me,  for  I  found  myself  deprived  of  all 
moral  influence,  and  I  had  become,  as  it  were,  a 
stranger  to  our  diplomacy,  which  the  Directory  had 
almost  entirely  remodelled  since  the  18th  Fructidor.* 

*  Guillemardet  was  appointed,  at  this  period,  ambassador  to 
Spain,  Garal  to  Naples,  Sotin  to  Genoa,  (iinguene  to  Turin,  and 


JOSEPH   BUONAPARTE  ARRIVES.  233 

Evidently  the  project  of  revolutionising  Italy  was 
beginning  to  preponderate.  Every  man  who  was 
appointed  in  Paris,  and  among  them  I  hasten  to 
acknowledge  that  there  were  men  of  real  merit  and 
incorruptible  honesty,  such  as  Garat  and  Gingue'ne, 
owed  his  promotion  more  or  less  to  the  dogmatic 
and  proselytising  spirit  which  was  for  a  while 
triumphant,  but  which,  lacking  the  support  of  either 
military  success  or  civic  worth,  raised  up  for  us 
implacable  enemies  in  Italy,  and  ultimately  drove 
us  out  of  that  country. 

In  this  state  of  things,  I  was  endeavouring  still 
to  hold  my  position  with  dignity,  when,  on  the 
25th  Nivose  (January  14,  1798),  Joseph  Buona- 
parte and  his  family  arrived  unexpectedly.  He 
had  left  Rome  abruptly,  after  the  events  which 
took  place  there  on  the  6th  of  the  same  month 
(December  26),  and  resulted  in  the  assassination  of 
General  Duphot.  Rumours  of  these  events  had 
already  reached  us,  but  I  knew  none  of  the  details. 
Joseph  passed  one  day  at  my  house  in  Turin  and 
then  immediately  resumed  his  journey  to  Paris. 
From  the  particulars  which  he  gave  me,  I  foresaw 
that  the  legitimate  pretext  for  seizing  upon  Rome 


Trouve  to  the  Cisalpine  Kepublic  at  Milan.  Everything  in  our 
Exterior  Relations  was  assuming  a  new  complexion,  and  the 
whole  system  established  by  Buonaparte  in  Italy  was  overturned 
by  these  appointments. 


234       MEMOIBS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


which  such  excesses  would  furnish  to  the  Directory, 
would  be  eagerly  embraced,  and  that  a  Revolution 
which  would  shortly  spread  all  over  Italy  must 
ensue.  We  congratulated  each  other  on  our  not  being 
obliged  to  witness  that  revolution,  and  we  agreed  to 
meet  in  Paris,  where  I  hoped  he  would  precede  me 
by  a  few  days  only.  I  have  already  said  that  the 
delay  in  the  arrival  of  Gringue'ne'  detained  me  at 
Turin  much  longer  than  I  then  expected. 

Only  a  short  time  elapsed  ere  the  consequences 
of  the  events  at  Rome  became  manifest.  Berthier, 
whom  Buonaparte  had  left  at  Milan,  received  orders 
towards  the  end  of  Nivose  to  march  on  Rome. 
He  arrived  there  on  the  27th  Pluviose  (February 
13),  drove  out  the  Pope,  proclaimed  the  restoration 
of  the  Roman  Republic,  made  a  ridiculous  speech  at 
the  Capitol,  and  despatched  to  Paris  as  a  trophy — the 
Pope's  walking-stick !  But  he  did  not  make  a  long 
stay  at  Rome.  Buonaparte,  who  was  then  planning 
the  expedition  to  Egypt,  recalled  him  to  Paris,  and 
he  was  succeeded  in  the  command  of  the  army  of 
Rome  by  Massena,  who  was  appointed  on  6th 
Ventose  (February  24).  General  Brune  had  already 
succeeded  Berthier  in  the  command  of  t lie  army  of 
Italy — its  headquarters  were  still  at  Milan. 

Before  receiving  information  that  the  French 
troops  had  reached  Koine,  the  Executive  Directory 
which,  reasonably  enough,  entertained   no  doubt  ol 


MM.   MONGE  AND   DANNOU.  235 

the  success  of  that  expedition,  had  hastened  to 
appoint  Commissioners  to  organise  the  future 
.Republic.  Monge  and  Dannou  were  chosen  for  the 
task,  both  men  of  great  worth,  but  more  given  to 
political  theories  than  distinguished  for  knowledge 
of  the  world,  and  consequently  little  fitted  for  the 
management  of  men.  I  saw  them  at  the  end  of 
Pluviose  (towards  the  middle  of  February)  on  their 
way  through  Turin,  when  they  paid  me  a  visit, 
accompanied  by  M.  de  St.  Martin,  who  was  formerly 
almoner  to  the  Paris  National  Guard,  and  at  present 
Secretary  to  the  Commission.  The  visit  was  a 
purely  formal  one.  They  said  very  little  of  the 
object  of  their  mission,  sought  for  no  information 
from  me  upon  the  present  state  of  Italy,  and  would 
not  even  accept  the  dinner  to  which  I  invited  them. 
They  were  going  to  make  a  revolution,  to  restore 
the  former  Roman  Republic,  and  those  things  were 
miracles  in  which  I  did  not  believe.  They  dis- 
covered afterwards  which  of  us  had  judged  rightly. 
I  was  sooner  undeceived  than  they,  and  had  over 
them  the  melancholy  advantage  of  foreseeing  that, 
with  the  instruments  of  which  we  were  obliged  to 
make  use,  with  generals  and  agents  equally  corrupt 
and  greedy  of  gain,  it  was  perfectly  visionary  to 
attempt  the  regeneration  of  an  ignorant  and 
fanatical  populace. 

But    I    must    do  both    Monge    and    Dannou  the 


23G      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

justice  to  say  that  they  were  actuated  by  the  purest 
motives  and  uninfluenced  by  any  desire  of  personal 
gain.  Dannou's  high-mindedness  never  varied  for 
a  single  instant;  and  if  Monge,  his  colleague, 
displayed  less  firmness  of  principle,  the  immense 
services  he  has  rendered  to  science,  and  especially  to 
its  diffusion,  will  cause  some  little  weakness  of 
character  to  be  forgotten,  and  posterity,  remem- 
bering his  merits  only,  will  hold  his  name  in 
undying  honour. 

While  Monge  and  Dannou,  full  of  hopes  that  were 
not  to  be  realised,  were  hastening  towards  Rome, 
the  Cabinet  of  Turin,  aware  of  their  mission,  of  the 
Directory's  projects  against  the  authority  of  the 
Pope,  and  of  the  revolution  which  was  brewing  in 
the  centre  of  Italy,  was  much  cast  down,  and  now 
dreaded  the  arrival  of  Gingue'ne'  as  much  as  it  had 
recently  desired  my  recall.  Meanwhile,  it  sought  to 
avert  the  undeniably  imminent  danger,  by  renew- 
ing the  negotiations  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
convention  annexed  to  the  treaty  of  alliance  of  20th 
Germinal,  year  V.,  and  M.  deBalbi  had  presented  on 
16th  Ventose,  year  VI.  (March  G,  1798),  the  outline 
of  a  treaty  for  the  exchange  of  the  island  of  Sardinia, 
against  the  States  of  the  Infant  of  Parma,  annexing 
to  it  the  title  of  King.  ]>ut  the  coldness  with  which 
this  proposition  was  received,  served  only  to  confirm 
the    fears    with    which    the    hostile    attitude    of   the 


GINGUENE.  237 


Executive  Power  inspired  the  Sardinian  Govern- 
ment. For  my  own  part,  as  all  my  efforts  on  behalf 
of  this  proposition,  and  also  those  which  I  made  to 
obtain  an  exact  explanation  with  respect  to 
Piedmont,  were  equally  fruitless,  I  was  convinced 
that  the  final  intention  of  the  Directory  was  to 
abandon  that  unhappy  country  to  its  fate  ;  and  so 
I  left  off  all  political  correspondence,  deeming  it 
henceforth  superfluous,  and  confined  myself  to 
the  formal  business  of  the  embassy.  I  observed 
this  attitude  of  reserve  while  expecting  from  day 
to  day  the  arrival  of  my  successor,  who  was  to 
bring  with  him  fresh  instructions,  and  probably 
the  sentence  of  the  Directory  upon  Sardinia. 

Ginguene  arrived  at  Turin  on  the  3rd  Germinal, 
year  VI.  (March  23,  1798).  He  had  travelled  with 
Garat,  who  was  going  as  ambassador  to  Naples. 
They  were  both  very  clever  men,  but  in  proportion 
as  I  took  pleasure  in  conversing  with  them  on 
literary  and  philosophical  subjects,  I  was  surprised 
at  their  diplomatic  language,  and  their  strange 
ideas  of  the  functions  which  they  were  about  to 
fulfil.  They  were  quite  in  the  clouds;  they  were 
preceptors  of  kings,  and  not  ambassadors.  As  they 
had  never  had  any  experience  of  the  difficulties 
which  the  habits  and  prejudices  of  peoples  oppose 
to  innovators,  they  seemed  to  be  unaware  that  time 
only  wears  out  errors,  that  they  must  be  sapped  at 


238       MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

their  bases  by  the  patient  spread  of  instruction  in 
the  lower  classes  of  society,  and  that  to  attack  pre- 
judices in  the  front  is  to  give  them  new  strength. 
Not  such  were  the  means  which  these  gentlemen 
proposed  to  employ.  They  were  resolved  to  respect 
neither  public  nor  private  manners  or  customs,  to 
conform  to  no  usages,  and,  above  all,  to  withstand 
the  etiquette  of  courts.  They  intended  to  be  as 
inflexible  in  outward  forms  as  in  principles,  and 
brought  philosophical  intolerance  to  the  overthrow 
of  religious  intolerance.  I  soon  perceived  that  I  could 
not  attain  to  their  height,  and  that  they  pitied  my 
simplicity  and  the  timid  course  I  had  observed. 

At  our  first  meeting,  G-inguene  assured  me  that 
his  wife,  the  French  ambassadress,*  would  never 
submit  to  the  ridiculous  costume  of  the  Turin  Court, 
but  would  go  to  Court  in  a  white  gown,  a  bonnet, 
and  white  cotton  stockings.  I  replied  that  I  had 
thought  it  well  to  act  in  a  contrary  manner ;  that  on 
principle  I  would  never  offend  against  established 
usage,  especially  in  such  trifles  as  the  shape  of  a 
gown,  or  a  head-dress ;  that  my  wife  had  con- 
formed to  the  customs  of  the  country,  without  incur- 
ing  blame  from  any  quarter  whatsoever;  but  that 

*  This  title  is  given  by  courtesy  only.  The  wife  of  an 
ambassador  is  nut  an  ambassadress.  M.  de  Talleyrand,  in  his 
correspondence,  ridiculed  (Jingue.m',  for  giving  the  title  of 
ambassadress  to  his  wife, 


GINGUENE.  239 


probably  he  had  very  good  reasons  for  not  imitating 
my  conduct.  He  next  asked  me  if  I  had  made  any 
speech  to  the  King  on  presenting  my  letters  of 
credit.  I  replied  that  I  had  not,  and  that  having 
been  received,  as  he  himself  would  be,  at  a  private 
audience,  nothing  would  have  seemed  to  me  more 
inappropriate  than  to  deliver  a  speech,  either  from 
writing,  or  from  memory,  to  a  man  with  whom  I 
was  tete-a-tete,  so  that  there  could  be  no  one  pre- 
sent to  testify  to  what  I  had  said.  He  answered 
that  he  should  nevertheless  make  his  speech,  and 
that,  moreover,  he  should  have  it  published.  I 
returned,  that  undoubtedly  he  must  have  reasons 
for  acting  thus,  and  that  no  doubt  they  were 
excellent  ones.  Garat,  who  was  present  at  our 
conversation,  strongly  approved  the  intentions  of 
Ginguene',  which  I  indeed  in  no  wise  controverted. 
Nor  had  we  any  other  discussion,  and  I  feel  bound 
to  say  that,  with  the  exception  of  these  little  differ- 
ences of  opinion,  there  was  a  similarity  in  our 
principles  conducive  to  mutual  esteem. 

Gingue'ne'  brought  me  my  letters  of  recall.  On 
5th  Germinal  (March  25)  I  presented  them  to  the 
King,  who  was  good  enough  to  express  some  regret 
at  losing  me  ;  and  if  he  already  felt  a  presentiment 
of  the  misfortunes  which  soon  were  to  overwhelm 
him,  I  must  believe  his  regret  to  have  been  sincere. 
Gingue'ne  had  an  audience  on  the  11th  of  the  same 


240      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

month,  made  his  speech,  and  took  the  direction  of 
affairs,  which  I  gladly  handed  over  to  him. 

Free,  as  I  now  was,  from  all  official  cares,  I 
wished  before  returning  to  my  own  country,  from 
which  I  had  been  absent  more  than  three  years,  to 
profit  by  a  few  weeks  of  pleasant  leisure  to  make  an 
excursion  in  the  Alps. 

I  left  Turin  on  15th  Germinal  (April  4),  and  passed 
the  night  at  the  house  of  the  Count  de  Brusasco,  with 
whom  I  had  become  intimate  duriug  my  residence  in 
Piedmont,  and  who  resided  on  the  pretty  estate  of 
the  same  name  ;  at  a  short  distance  from  Crescentino 
on  the  banks  of  the  Po.  I  spent  two  very  pleasant 
days  there,  in  the  company  of  my  host,  a  man  of 
remarkable  talents  and  a  good  musician.  From 
thence,  I  resumed  my  journey,  in  company  with  the 
venerable  Molineri,  an  excellent  botanist,*  one  of 
the  fellow-workers  of  the  famous  Allioni,  in  the 
classification  of  the  Flora  of  Piedmont.  Notwith- 
standing his  age,  he  consented  to  accompany  me 
on  my  excursion,  and  his  knowledge  of  natural 
history,  and  his  familiarity  with  the  mountains  I 
was  about  to  visit,  and  which  he  had  already  ex- 
plored several  times,  were  of  infinite  service  to 
me. 

We    went    first    up    the    valley    of    the    Doira- 

*  I  To  was  attached  as  head  gardener  to  the  Valentino  Botanical 
I  lardens,  near  Turin. 


TEE    VALLEY  OF  THE  DOIRA.  241 

Baltea,*  from  Ivrea  to  Aosta,  f  where  we  arrived  on 
the  19th  Germinal  (April  8),  and  although  it  was 
very  early  in  the  season,  my  companion  remarked  and 
pointed  out  to  me  a  number  of  rare  plants,  which 
we  gathered.  The  road  passing  through  the  valley 
was  at  that  time  a  fine  one,  well  kept,  and  offering 
a  delightful  variety  of  view.  At  Aosta  we  hired 
mules,  to  take  us  to  Cormayeur,  a  large  district 
situated  at  the  foot  of  the  eastern  and  southern 
slopes  of  Mont  Blanc,  and  celebrated  for  its  mineral 
springs.  We  continued  to  ascend  the  valley  of  the 
Doira,  passing  through  Villeneuve  d' Aosta,  Avisa, 
Lasalle  and  Storges. 

Cormayeur,  according  to  the  calculation  of  M.  de 
Saussure,  is  625  fathoms  above  the  level  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, that  is  to  say,  about  a  quarter  of  the 
height  of  Mont  Blanc*  I  took  up  my  quarters  there 
lor  four  days,  and  employed  my  time  in  making 
excursions  in  the  neighbourhood.  J.  L.  Jordany, 
called  "  Patience,"  an  inhabitant  of  Cormayeur,  ac- 
companied me — he  had  also  served  as  guide  to  M.  de 
Saussure  during  his  expeditions  in  these  parts  of  the 
Alps.     Under  his  guidance  we  explored  the  valley 

*  In  Piedmont  the  name  of  Doira  is  given  to  all  streams 
descending  from  the  Col  de  la  Seigne  and  the  Col  de  Ferret, 
where  the  watershed  of  the  Adriatic  commences. 

|  This  village  is  known  in  the  country  under  the  name  of  the 
■Capital  of  the  Cretins  (or  idiots),  from  the  great  number  of  these 
unfortunate  beings  among  its  inhabitants. 

VOL.    I.  R 


242      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

of  Cormayeur,  the  Alle'e  Blanche,  the  Yalley  of 
Ferret  and  the  Breuva  Glacier,  one  of  the  finest  in 
the  Alps.  This  glacier  is  reached  by  crossing  a 
beautiful  forest  of  larches,  which  bounds  it  on  the 
lower  side.  After  passing  the  moraine,*  which  is 
very  lofty,  we  climbed  to  a  considerable  height, 
crossing,  with  the  help  of  our  guide,  the  numerous 
and  profound  crevasses  that  intersect  it.  Mont 
Blanc  towered  above  our  heads  to  the  north,  but 
the  aiguilles,  especially  the  Giant,  at  whose  foot  we 
were,  hid  its  summit  from  our  sight.  Our  curiosity 
not  being  completely  satisfied,  we  resolved  on  climb- 
ing, as  a  last  expedition,  a  mountain,  to  which  our 
guide  gave  the  name  of  Chicouri,  situated  on  the 
north-west  of  Cormayeur,  and  from  whose  summit 
Mont  Blanc  and  its  aiguilles  are  all  visible.  We 
started  on  the  24th  Germinal,  an  hour  before  dawn, 
and  by  steep  pathways,  every  turn  of  which  was 
known  to  our  guide,  we  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
summit  of  the  mountain.  The  sun,  which  had  just 
risen,  cast  a  bright  radiance  on  the  magnificent 
landscape  that  surrounded  us.  The  rose-coloured 
summit  of  Mont  Blanc  was  scarcely  distinguish- 
able among  the  nearest  aiguilles. 

Across  the  valley   of  Cormayeur  and    the   Alle'e 
Blanche,  wo    saw  the    Breuva    and    Miege   glaciers 

*  A  moraine  is  a  heap  of  stones  which  generally  forms  the 
exterior  boundary  of  a  glacier. 


A    STORM  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS.  243 

reflecting  back  the  sunlight  in  a  thousand  glittering 
peaks.     Never  had  I  beheld  so  grand  a  spectacle. 

Our  guide  had  arranged  our  day's  journey  so  that 
we  should  return  to  Cormayeur  by  the  opposite  slope 
of  Chicouri  from  that  which  we  had  taken  in  ascend- 
ing, and  reach  the  extreme  end  of  the  Allee  Blanche 
and  the  valley  that  terminates  it.  We  were 
preparing  to  commence  the  descent,  when  the  wind, 
rising  from  the  depths  of  the  valley  and  heaping  up 
the  clouds,  hid  all  the  landscape  beneath  us  by 
degrees,  while  the  sky  overhead  remained  blue  and 
serene.  But  the  clouds  continuing  to  rise,  sur- 
rounded us  on  all  sides,  and  bore  with  them  the 
storm  they  carried  in  their  bosom.  In  one  instant 
the  ground  on  which  we  were  walking  was  covered 
with  snow  as  fine,  powdery,  and  penetrating  as 
dust.  Our  footmarks  on  the  former  snows  were 
effaced,  and  a  north-east  wind,  which  took  away  our 
breath,  began  to  blow  with  violence,  causing  us 
intolerable  discomfort.  At  last  all  unevenness  in 
the  ground  disappeared,  and  we  could  no  longer 
distinguish  any  of  the  landmarks.  In  spite  of 
his  great  experience,  our  guide  seemed  anxious. 
He  at  once  abandoned  his  intention  of  taking  us 
back  by  the  northern  slope  of  the  mountain,  and 
set  about  returning  by  the  same  way  we  had  come. 
His  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  mountains  and 
a  kind  of  instinct  guided  him  in  the  right  direction, 

r  2 


244      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

and  we  were  advancing  with  confidence,  when  all  of 
a  sudden  he  disappeared  in  a  chasm  that  had  been 
filled  up  by  snow,  but  was  not  sufficiently  firm  to 
bear  the  weight  of  a  man.  We  ran  to  his  assistance, 
and  succeeded  with  some  trouble  in  dragging  him 
out  of  the  crevasse,  which  happily  was  not  deep.* 
We  set  off  again,  using  our  alpenstocks  for  the 
steepest  descents.  At  last  the  storm,  after  having 
lasted  more  than  two  hours,  died  away ;  impercep- 
tibly the  rocky  points,  the  mountain-tops,  the 
summits  of  the  trees  in  the  valley  reappeared,  and, 
without  incurring  fresh  dangers,  we  accomplished 
the  rest  of  the  distance  to  Cormayeur. 

The  time  at  my  disposal  did  not  permit  me  to 
renew  the  attempt  that  had  just  failed.  I  left  Cor- 
mayeur the  next  day,  the  25th  Germinal  (April  14), 
to  return  to  Aosta.  There  I  took  a  day's  rest,  and 
started  on  the  27th  for  the  Great  St.  Bernard. 

On  leaving  Aosta  the  traveller  still  sees  vines 
and  cultivated  fields ;  but,  in  proportion  as  he 
ascends,  the  temperature  becomes  colder.  We  were 
very   glad   to  reach    St.    Remy,f    where  we    found 

*  Our  little  party  was  composed  of  five  persons;  Molineri, 
Patience  the  guide,  a  porter  Loaded  with  provisions,  a  servant, 

:iik1  myself. 

f  St.  loiiiy,  situated  at  1604  yards  above  the  level  of  the 
sen,  is  the  last  village  of  Piedmont;  bul  the  territorial  limit  of 
the  States  of  the  King  of  Sardinia  and  of  the  Republic  of  Yalais, 
is  bighet  n]>  on  the  mountain. 


THE  GREAT  ST.   BERNARD.  245 

an  excellent  inn  and  well  supplied-stoves.  We 
hired  guides  for  the  ascent  of  Mount  St.  Bernard 
by  the  path  which  leads  to  the  monastery.*  The 
time  of  year  was  not  favourable  for  this  ascent;  the 
snow  had  disaj^peared  in  the  valley,  but  that  which 
during  the  winter  had  been  heaped  up  on  the  steep 
mountain-sides  now  threatened  to  descend  in  ava- 
lanches. It  is  at  this  season  that  avalanches  occur 
most  frequently,  and  the  route  is  consequently  dan- 
gerous. Nevertheless,  the  fear  of  so  formidable  an 
accident  did  not  deter  us,  but,  following  the  advice 
of  our  guides,  we  left  the  mules  at  St.  Reniy  and 
performed  the  journey  on  foot.  The  guides  advised 
us  to  maintain  perfect  silence,  and  we  followed  the 
narrow  mountain-path  in  single  file.  The  distance 
from  St.  Eemy  to  the  monastery  of  the  Great  St. 
Bernard  is  about  six  or  seven  miles,  and  we  accom- 
plished it  in  three  hours.  At  a  mile  and  a  quarter's 
distance  from  the  last  chalets  on  the  road  we  began 
to  distinguish  the  monastery  buildings,  and  to  the 
west  of  these  and  on  our  right  we  perceived  the  lake, 
which  was  still  frozen  over  in  many  places.  The 
landscape  here  is  melancholy  and  impressive.  Not 
a  tree,  not  a  trace  of  vegetation  is  seen  on  the  rocks 
rising  on  every  side,  and  whose  black  peaks  detach 

*  The  monastery  of  St.  Bernard  is  situated  on  the  verge 
of  the  perpetual  snow-line ;  this  line  in  the  Alps  is  hetween 
1300  and  1400  fathoms  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 


246       MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

themselves  from  the  almost  eternal  snows  that  fill  up 
the  interval  and  which  had  not  yet  begun  to  melt. 
A  small  garden,  lying  to  the  south  and  sheltered  by 
the  monastery  wall,  is  with  difficulty  made  to  yield 
a  few  vegetables  during  the  summer.  They  are  of 
indifferent  quality. 

Every  kind  of  provision,  even  the  wood  for  fuel,  is 
carried  to  trie  hospice  on  the  backs  of  mules  from 
Yalais  and  Piedmont. 

I  was  extremely  well  received  by  the  hospitable 
monks.  In  the  room  in  which  we  dined,  the 
barometer  was  a  few  lines  above  twelve  inches, 
an  observation  which  agrees  pretty  well  with 
those  that  have  been  taken  with  greater  exactitude 
in  order  to  ascertain  the  height  of  the  pass  of  the 
Great  St.  Bernard.  According  to  the  calculation  of 
M.  de  Saussure,  the  convent  is  at  a  height  of  1257 
fathoms,  and  the  pass  at  its  highest  points,  accord- 
ing to  the  '  Annuaire  du  .Bureau  des  Longitudes,'  is 
2491  yards  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

I  went  over  every  part  of  the  hospice,  a  wise 
and  humane  foundation,  and  I  spent  the  night  there. 
On  the  following  morning,  we  returned  in  the  same 
order  and  with  the  same  precautions  as  before  to 
the  village  of  St.  Kcrny.  In  the  evening  of  the 
2.'»nl  Germinal  I  was  back  at  Aosta,  well  pleased 
to  have  so  happily  accomplished  a  journey  whose 
difficulty    and    danger    was    even    at    that    period 


COGNES.  217 


exaggerated.  No  one  then  could  imagine  that,  four 
years  later,  the  road  which  was  considered  barely 
practicable  for  mules  would  be  traversed  by  a  pow- 
erful army  ;  that  a  large  body  of  artillery  would  be 
transported  along  the  narrow  pathway  hanging  over 
a  precipice,  and  that  Italy's  most  formidable  barrier 
would  thus  sink  before  the  genius  of  the  greatest 
captain  of  modern  times,  and  the  dauntless  heroism 
of  the  French  soldiery. 

I  purposed  returning  immediately  to  Turin ;  but  I 
was  prevailed  upon  by  the  Intendant  of  the  Province 
of  Aosta,  who  had  received  me  with  the  greatest 
courtesy,  and  had  given  me  every  assistance  towards 
the  success  of  my  expedition,  to  make  a  three  days' 
excursion  with  him  into  the  valley  of  Cognes,  to 
visit  the  iron  mines  situated  on  a  slope  of  Mount 
Iseran  which  closes  in  that  valley. 

Although  less  frequented  by  travellers  than  the 
other  valleys  of  the  Alps,  Cognes  is  one  of  the  most 
picturesque.  We  ascended  towards  its  source  the 
course  of  a  torrent  which  descends  from  Mount  Iseran 
and  falls  into  the  Doira  near  Aosta.  The  banks  of 
this  stream  are  wooded,  and  display  rich  and 
beautiful  Alpine  vegetation.  At  every  step  we 
beheld  the  rarest  plants ;  my  companion  Molineri 
gathered  the  Linncea  borealis,  the  Rhododendron  fer- 
rugineum,  the  Artemisia  glacialis  and  others — which 
my  taste  for  botany  made  me  regard  as  very  precious. 


248      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELlfO. 

We    thus   made    our   way    along    a    road,    made 
delightful  by  charming  views  and  interesting  con- 
versation, to  the  village  of  Cognes,  where  we  passed 
the  night.      Early  on   the    following   morning   we 
proceeded   to    the    iron-mines.      These    mines    are 
worked  in  the  open  air,  and  consist  of  a  group  of 
rocks  entirely  composed  of  carbonate  of  iron,  which 
is   broken    off  in    large    blocks.     These   blocks  are 
rolled  down  the  mountain  to  the  site  upon  which  the 
factories  are  built  over  the  torrent  which  waters  the 
valley  of  Cognes.     The  entire  mass  of  the  mountain 
consists  of  the  mineral  itself,  and  is  of  such  extent 
that  if  worked  it  would  afford  an  enormous  supply. 
But  the  great  elevation  of  the  site,  which   may  be 
reckoned  at  more  than  a  thousand  fathoms  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  the  impossibility  of  working  it 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  considerably 
lessen  its  produce.     From  Cognes  to  the  mines,  the 
road  is  very  steep  and  vegetation  gradually  dwindles 
away.     A  few  dry  plants  and  stunted  birch-trees  are 
still  to  be  seen  here  and  there,  but  at  length  even 
the  Arenaria   biflora,  which    Molineri    considers  as 
the    last    plant    which  flourishes    on  the  heights    of 
the    Alps    below     the     line    of    everlasting    snow, 
disappears. 

After  this  excursion  we  returned  to  Cognes, 
thence  I  made  my  way  tc-Aosta:  and  immediately 
afterwards  lefl    For  Turin,  where  I  arrived  on   2nd 


PIEDMONT.  249 


Floreal  (April  20).     I  remained  there  a  few  hours 
only,  and  set  out  at  once  for  Paris. 

I  must  not,  however,  take  leave  of  Italy  without 
giving  some  idea  of  the  condition  of  that  beautiful 
country  at  the  time  of  my  departure,  and  a  sketch  of 
the  events  which  took  place  immediately  afterwards. 
Although  I  no  longer  held  an  official  position,  the 
notes  I  had  taken,  a  few  confidential  correspondences 
which  outlived  my  public  duties,  the  abiding  interest 
I  felt  in  a  country  to  which  I  was  so  warmly 
attached,  and,  finally,  the  desire  to  justify  my  own 
conduct  there,  led  me  to  amass  an  amount  of  infor- 
mation which  enables  me  to  throw  some  light  on  the 
causes  of  the  disasters  that  so  soon  succeeded  to  our 
triumphs,  and  I  will  take  the  present  opportunity  of 
pointing  them  out. 

I  will  begin  with  Piedmont.  The  first  steps  taken 
by  Ginguene  had  alarmed  the  Cabinet  of  Turin,  and 
dealings  with  him  had  been  difficult.  An  argument 
which,  to  say  the  least,  was  inexpedient,  had  arisen 
on  the  subject  of  Madame  Gingue'nes  presentation. 
She  had,  as  I  have  already  said,  refused  to  wear  the 
conventional  Court  dress,  and  yet  insisted  on  being 
received  at  Court.  Ginguene,  however,  had  pre- 
vailed ;  the  presentation  had  taken  place,  and  when 
I  saw  him  on  my  way  through  Turin  after  mv 
Alpine  excursion,  he  was  delighted  with  and  proud 
of  his   triumph.     But   these  feelings  were    greatly 


250       MEMOIES   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

qualified  by  the  difficulties  of  his  position.     Distur- 
bances were  breaking  out  in  all  parts  of  Piedmont, 
and  Brune,  who  for  two  months  had  had  the  com- 
mand   of    the  army   of   Italy,   far  from   acting    on 
Buonaparte's  principles,  seemed  to  have  no  intention 
of  opposing  any  effectual  resistance  to  those  distur- 
bances.    The  seat  of  the  insurrection  was  at  first  at 
Carosio,  a  small  province  belonging  to  Piedmont,  but 
enclosed  within  the  territory  of  the  new  Ligurian 
Republic,  which  had  just  risen  from  the  ruins  of  the 
ancient  oligarchy  of  Genoa.     The  revolt  wTas  headed 
by  a  man  named  Trombetta,  a  Piedmontese  by  birth, 
but  who  wore  the  French  uniform,  and  even  described 
himself  as  an  agent  of  the  French  Republic.     Not- 
withstanding the  protestations  of  the  Cisalpine  and 
Ligurian  Directories,  it  was  evident  that  neither  one 
nor  the  other  observed  a  strict  neutrality,  and  that 
the  spirit  of  proselytism,  which   made   further  pro- 
gress every  day,  inclined  both  these  Governments  to 
encourage  disturbances  which  must  bring  about  the 
destruction  of  a  monarchical  State,  whose  existence 
in  the  midst  of  so  many  republics  seemed  to  them  a 
political   paradox.     M.   de   Balbi  made   serious  com- 
plaints   in     Paris    of    the     hostile    feeling    against 
Piedmont   openly    displayed    both    at    Milan    and 
Genoa,  and  he  certainly  was  not  wrong  in  regarding 
those  two  Governments  as  the  greatest   enemies  of 
his  country.       But    his    complaints   were    unheeded. 


PIEDMONT.  251 


The  Directory  of  the  French  Republic,  far  from 
disapproving  of  the  disturbances,  was  waiting  im- 
patiently for  the  results  that  must  needs  follow, 
and  was  preparing  to  profit  by  them. 

Meanwhile  the  first  attempts  of  the  insurgents 
were  repulsed  by  the  troops  which  were  sent  against 
them  by  the  Piedmontese  Government.  But  after 
some  few  checks,  they  were  renewed  with  greater 
force,  and  the  insurgents  contrived  to  establish  and 
maintain  a  position  in  the  village  of  Casosio, 
whence  they  traversed  the  Ligurian  territory,  which 
was  free  to  them,  but  on  which  the  King's  troops 
might  not  follow  them,  and  carried  the  signal  of 
revolt  to  other  points  of  Piedmont.  At  the  same 
time  gatherings  of  the  people  at  Milan  were  causing 
alarm  on  the  frontiers  on  the  side  of  Lake  Maggiore. 
These  insurrectionary  movements  were  fomented  by 
outrageous  libels  on  the  King  of  Sardinia,  and  by 
proclamations  which  clearly  conveyed  that  their 
authors  were  under  the  protection  of  France. 

The  following  is  a  rather  curious  extract  from 
one  of  the  latter  : 

"  The  French  Government,  in  order  to  promote 
peace  and  the  triumph  of  the  Grand  Army,  has 
been  forced  for  the  time  being  to  look  upon  kings 
as  the  representatives  of  their  subjects.  This  sup- 
position, though  unlawful,  was  necessary  for  the 
opening  of  negotiations,  but  it  is  at  the  present  time, 


252       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

circumscribed  and  limited.  To  protect  the  weak,  is 
it  not  a  means  of  exhausting  them  ?  The  alliance  of 
the  King  of  Sardinia  with  the  French  Republic  was 
really  an  act  by  which  he  morally  abdicated  his 
sovereignty." 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  authors  of  these 
writings  reasoned  well.  They  expressed  the  real 
feeling  of  the  Executive  Directory,  as  elected  on 
the  18th  Fructidor. 

All  the  grievances  of  the  Turin  Court,  of  which 
these  details  will  give  a  sufficient  idea,  were  laid 
open  in  Paris  by  the  Sardinian  ambassador,  and  in 
his  notes  to  the  French  Government  he  made  no 
mention  of  Ginguene.  Certainly  the  latter  seemed 
to  exercise  little  influence  on  the  Generals  of  the 
army  of  Italy,  who  every  day  showed  themselves 
more  favourable  to  the  insurgents,  and  openly 
supported  them  in  every  place.  These  grievances 
were  for  a  lonir  time  unnoticed.  At  last,  on  the  1st 
Prairial,  year  VI.  (May  20,  170S),  M.  de  Talleyrand 
wrote  a  reply  to  the  pressing  notes  of  M.  de  Balbi. 

The  .Minister  begins  by  disavowing  all  partici- 
pation in  the  disturbances  then  Inking  place  in 
Piedmont,  and  protests  that  the  French  have  no 
share  in  them.  I>nl  at  the  same  lime  he  declares 
his  conviction  that  those  Piedmontese  who  have 
joined  the  insurrection  have  been  misled,  and  that 
immediately   on    being   warned   that    they  are   the 


TALLEYRAND   SPEAKS.  253 

unconscious  instruments  of  crime,  they  will  hasten 
to  return  to  their  allegiance.  "  Consequently,"  he 
adds,  "  the  ambassador  of  France  at  the  Sardinian 
Court  is  instructed,  first,  to  ask  for  an  immediate 
and  entire  amnesty  in  favour  of  the  Piedmontese 
insurgents  who  have  taken  up  arms.  He  will  after- 
wards press  the  Sardinian  Government  to  use  its 
strength  against  any  gatherings  of  berbets*  which 
may  still  exist  in  the  country. 

"  On  these  conditions  the  French  Government  pro- 
mises to  use  all  its  influence  with  the  Cisalpine  and 
Ligurian  Republics,  to  maintain  them  in  tranquillity 
and  within  the  territorial  limits  assigned  to  them." 

It  will  be  recollected  that  this  almost  derisive 
letter,  and  which  advances  so  curious  a  doctrine,  is 
written  by  the  same  Minister  who,  four  months 
previously,  had  blamed  me  for  my  endeavours  to 
check  the  unheard-of  cruelties  that  were  perpetrated 
upon  Sardinian  subjects,  far  less  guilty  than  the 
insurgents  in  Piedmont. 

The  Court  of  Turin,  driven  to  extremity,  ordered 
its  ambassador  in  Paris  to  sign  any  kind  of  con- 
vention, in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  insurrec- 
tion. But  the  French  Government  refused  to  treat 
directly,  and  referred  the  negotiation  to  Gingue'ne, 
notwithstanding  the  dislike  to  treat  with   that  am- 

*  These  berbets  were  brigands,  no  doubt,  but  at  that  time  they 
were  supporting  the  King's  cause. 


254       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


bassador,  which  was  manifested  by  the  Sardinian 
Minister. 

Gingnene,  having  been  authorised  to  begin  the 
negotiation,  went  first  to  Milan  to  consult  with 
General  Brune,  and  on  the  5th  Prairial  (May  24) 
handed  a  note  to  M.  de  Prioca,  which,  both  in  style 
and  in  arrogant  requirements,  far  exceeded  the  in- 
structions sent  from  Paris.  Its  language  is  that  of 
a  man  who  cannot  conceal  his  satisfaction  at  being 
authorised  to  indulge  his  feelings  of  enmity  against 
the  Cabinet  of  Turin  ;  and,  with  a  singular  disre- 
gard of  diplomatic  customs,  Ginguene  hastened  to 
despatch  a  copy  of  his  note  to  the  French  ambas- 
sadors at  Naples,  Milan  and  Genoa.  He  even  wrote 
privately  to  M.  de  Talleyrand,  to  urge  him  to  have 
this  note  published  in  the  French  newspapers — so 
greatly  did  he  think  his  literary  and  republican 
reputation  interested  in  it. 

The  Sardinian  Government,  justly  offended  by  the 
tone  of  this  communication,  despatched  a  courier  to 
Paris  to  renew  the  request  that  the  negotiation 
should  be  carried  on  in  that  city,  but  the  appli- 
cation had  no  success.  In  proportion  as  the  internal 
situation  of  Piidmont  became  more  critical,  by  reason 
of  the  insurrections  which  broke  out  in  all  parts,  so 
did  the  Executive  Directory  become  more  exacting. 
Finally,  <>n  obtaining  the  amnesty,  it  required  that 
the  citadel  of  Turin  should   be  garrisoned  by  French 


FRANCE  AND   PIEDMONT. 


troops,  and  this  demand,  repeated  in  a  series  of  diplo- 
matic notes,  each  more  imperious  than  the  preceding, 
was  acceded  to  at  a  Conference  which  took  place  on 
8th  Messidor  (June  25)  between  G-inguene  and  M. 
de  Prioca.  The  treaty  regulating  the  conditions  of 
this  garrison  was  signed,  not  at  Turin  but  at  Milan, 
by  General  Brune  and  M.  de  St.  Marsan.* 

The  political  existence  of  the  King  of  Sardinia 
was  virtually  at  an  end  ;  by  giving  up  his  capital 
he  ceased  to  reign. 

The  occupation  of  the  citadel  of  Turin  inflamed 
to  the  highest  degree  the  enmity  of  the  Piedmontese 
towards  the  French,  and  the  patriotic  party  instead 
of  being  strengthened  by  this  circumstance  was 
weakened.  All  the  men  of  elevated  minds  whom 
it  had  comprised  felt  that  their  national  honour 
had  been  wounded,  and  withdrew,  so  that  the  party 
soon  consisted  only  of  intriguing  malcontents,  who 
hoped  to  enrich  themselves  by  the  misfortunes 
and  humiliations  of  their  country.  These  deep  and 
well-founded  sentiments  of  enmity  could  not  remain 
concealed;  they  showed  themselves  in  innumerable 
ways,  and  were  the  cause  of  desperate  encoun- 
ters, in  which  the  lives  of  Frenchmen  travelling 
alone  through  Piedmont  were  sacrificed.  G-inguene', 
on  this,  recommenced  writing  his  threatening  notes, 

*  The  French  troops  entered  Turin,  15th  Messidor,  year  IV. 
(July  3,  1708). 


256       MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  3II0T  BE  MELITO.    Nj/)l 

he    insisted  that  the  Sardinian  Government  should 
put  an  end  to  these  hostile  demonstrations,  that  the 
officials  should  exhibit  good-will  towards  the  French, 
and  in  order  to  attain  this  end  he  asked  for  the  dis- 
missal  of   many  of  them.     Lastly,   he   wanted    the 
Archbishop  of  Turin  to  publish    a    pastoral   letter, 
recommending  his  flock  to  live  on  good  terms  with 
the  French.     How  was  it  that  a  man  of  good  sense 
did  not  see  the  absurdity  of  such  a  proceeding  ?  Have 
governments   the    power  of  suddenly  changing  the 
minds  and  opinions  of  the  people  ?     Could  the  viola- 
tion of  every  principle  involved  in  the  occupation  of 
an    ally's   capital   during   perfect   peace,    could    the 
arrogant  and  irreligious  conduct  of  the  French  in  the 
midst  of  a  population  attached  to  the  forms  of  their 
religion,  have  any  other  result  than  the  hatred  of  the 
Piedmontese?     If  that     violation     was    a    political 
necessity,  if  the  occupation  of  the  citadel  of  Turin 
was  an  unavoidable  military  measure,  we  should  have 
been  ready  to  stand  by  its  consequences,  to  look  upon 
the  enmity  incurred  as  a  necessary  evil,  to  have  been 
on  our  guard  against  it  and  tried  to  avert  its  effects ; 
but  to    request  an  insulted    Government  to  put  an 
end  to  it  was  folly. 

However,  it  would  seem  that  the  Executive  Direc- 
tory, though  approving  in  the  main  what  was  taking 
place  in  Piedmont,  would  have  preferred  more  suavity 
and   dissimulatioD    on   the    pari   of  (Jinguc'nc.     Their 


FRENCH  INSULTS   TO   TURIN.  257 


confidence  was  withdrawn  from  him  by  degrees,  and 
an  event  happened  which,  although  he  was  not 
concerned  in  it,  completed  its  withdrawal. 

The  Feast  of  the  Virgin,  which  falls  on  the  8th  of 
September,  has  been  from  time  immemorial  celebrated 
at  Turin  with  great  solemnity.  It  is  ushered  in  by 
numerous  salvoes  of  artillery  ;  a  grand  procession 
winds  through  the  streets ;  the  feast  is  always  looked 
forward  to  with  eagerness,  and  the  people  take  the 
largest  share  in  it.  It  was  therefore  feared,  with 
reason,  that  the  presence  of  French  soldiers  in  the 
town  and  the  disrespect  they  might  show  for  the 
ceremony  would  occasion  affrays  and  bloodshed. 
The  General  commanding  the  citadel,  having  taken 
counsel  with  the  French  ambassador,  confined  the 
garrison  to  their  barracks,  and  on  the  8th  of 
September  not  a  French  soldier  was  to  be  seen  in 
the  streets  of  Turin. 

But  a  week  later,  on  Sunday,  September  the  16th 
(30th  Fructidor),  a  number  of  French  officers  and 
soldiers,  in  masks,  some  dressed  as  women,  or  in 
caricatured  costumes  of  the  Court  or  town,  others 
as  jockeys,  drove  out  in  the  evening  from  the  citadel, 
and  paraded  through  the  town.  This  scandalous 
masquerade,  intended  to  ridicule  the  ceremonies 
which  had  taken  place  on  the  Feast  of  the  Virgin, 
displayed  itself  on  the  promenades,  in  the  vicinity 
of    the    churches,    disturbed     Divine    worship    and 

vol.  i  s 


258       NEMOIBS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


gravely  endangered  the  tranquillity  of  the  town. 
The  Piedmontese  garrison  took  up  arms,  and  for  a  few 
moments  it  was  feared  that  a  bloody  conflict  would 
ensue.  The  disgraceful  farce  was  disavowed  by  the 
General  and  the  ambassador,  but  its  effect  was  not 
less  fatal.  It  completed  the  alienation  of  the  people, 
it  embittered  the  already  existing  enmity,  and  it 
placed  the  Sardinian  Government  at  an  advantage. 

It  will  always  remain  inexplicable  that  the  French 
Generals  at  Turin,  and  especially  the  Commandant 
of  the  citadel,  should  have  been  ignorant  of  a  project 
whose  execution  involved  a  great  deal  of  preparation  ; 
and  the  blame  of  acceding  to  it,  or  at  least  of  wilfully 
closing  their  eyes,  will  be  justly  imputed  to  them  in 
perpetuity. 

These  events  made  a  gloomy  ending  to  Ginguene"s 
mission.  He  was  recalled  on  the  2nd  Vendemiaire, 
year  VII.  (September  23,  1708). 

Shortly  before  his  departure,  the  Comtesse  d' Artois, 
who  had  until  then  resided  unmolested  at  Turin,  was 
ordered  to  leave  that  city. 

Such  are  the  principal  events  which  took  place  in 
Piedmont  between  the  time  of  my  departure  and  the 
beginning  of  year  VII.  Those  which  followed,  and 
which  completely  ended  the  drama  by  the  expulsion  of 
the  King,  and  his  exile  in  Sardinia,  belong  to  a  later 
chain  of  circumstances  with  which  [am  oot  concerned. 

A>    for  the  rest   of   Italy;    on   the   departure  of 


THE   STATE   OF  NAPLES.  259 


Buonaparte,  the  political  conduct  of  the  Generals 
and  diplomatic  agents  everywhere  assumed  an 
aspect  which  closely  resembled  their  policy  in  Pied- 
mont.      M ,    who    had    succeeded    Berthier    in 

the  command  of  the  army  occupying  Rome,  so  mis- 
conducted himself  that  the  French  troops,  deprived 
of  their  pay  while  he  was  appropriating  enormous 
wealth,  revolted,  and  refused  to  recognise  him  any 
longer  as  their  commander.  His  extortion,  his 
plunder,  his  shameless  rapacity,  dishonoured  the 
laurels  he  had  won,  at  the  very  moment  that  the 
departure  of  Buonaparte  left  the  field  open  for 
him  to  eclipse  the  fame  of  his  illustrious  rival,  and 
to  bear  away  the  palm  from  the  only  General  who 
could  vie  with  him  in  military  talent. 

The  new  Roman  Republic,  established  under 
these  melancholy  auspices,  had  only  an  ephemeral 
existence. 

At  Naples,  where  Garat  had  acted  on  the  same 
principles,  and  made  use  of  the  same  forms  of 
diplomatic  communications  as  Ginguene'  at  Turin, 
there  was  a  commencement  of  disturbance,  in  anti- 
cipation of  the  revolution  that  broke  out  shortly 
afterwards,  flourished  for  a  while  and  then  came  to 
an  end  on  the  bloody  scaffolds  erected  by  Cardinal 
Ruffo,  and  amid  the  tragic  scenes  of  an  angry 
Queen's  vengeance,  which  Nelson  carried  out  in 
order  to  please  Lady  Hamilton. 

s  2 


260       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

At  Milan,  Trouve,  a  turbulent  patriot,  with  an  mi- 
satiable  desire  for  innovation,  but  weak  and  without 
capacity  ;  at  Genoa,  Belleville,  no  less  extravagant, 
but  superior  in  nobility  of  character,  and  solidity 
of  principle,  encouraged  and  infused  life  into  the 
revolutionary  movement,  loosened  all  social  ties 
and  forced  the  people  into  republicanism,  just  as 
violent  fanatics  had  formerly  forced  nations  into 
Catholicism.  But  as  none  of  these  innovations  were 
founded  either  on  a  change  of  customs  or  on 
newly-acquired  and  strongly-held  opinions,  the  whole 
fabric  was  shattered  in  a  moment,  when  fortune 
turned  against  us,  and  by  all  our  triumphs,  all 
our  brilliant  victories,  we  gained  only  the  enmity 
and  aversion  of  the  peoples.  Our  glorious  conquest 
slipped  from  our  hands  in  less  time  than  we  had 
taken  to  accomplish  it,  and  the  first  conqueror  of 
Italy  had  to  come  back  from  the  banks  of  the  Nile 
to  replace  her  under  the  yoke  ;  as  if  it  were  the 
fate  of  that  beautiful  laud  to  submit  herself  to  him 
only. 


(     261     ) 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Author  arrives  in  Paris — He  finds  certain  changes  in  the 
manners  and  habits  of  Parisian  society — He  is  received 
coldly  by  the  Members  of  the  Directory,  and  by  the  persons 
who  frequent  their  salons  —  He  sees  Bonaparte  —  The 
General's  motives  for  undertaking  the  expedition  to  Egypt 
— Popular  rising  at  Vienna,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
French  Legation  leaves  that  city — The  Directory,  fearing 
that  war  with  Austria  will  break  out  afresh,  decides 
on  sending  General  Bonaparte  to  Eastadt— The  dangers 
with  which  the  Directory  would  be  threatened  by  the 
ambitious  projects  of  the  General,  cause  them  to  re- 
scind this  decision,  and  Bonaparte  leaves  at  once,  to 
embark  at  Toulon — The  Author  is  summoned  to  join  a 
Council  called  together  on  account  of  disputes  in  the 
Department  of  the  Interior — Failures  of  the  Directory  in 
the  management  of  public  affairs  — Beverses  of  the  French 
arms  — Partial  overthrow  of  the  Directory,  and  Ministerial 
changes — The  Author  goes  to  Holland  with  Deforgues,  who 
is  appointed  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Dutch 
Eepublic — In  passing  through  Morfontaine  he  hears  that 
Bonaparte's  brothers  had  sent  a  communication  to  the 
General  which  may  induce  him  to  return  to  France — 
Deforgues  and  the  Author  travel  by  way  of  Lille, 
Bruges,  Antwerp,  Botterdam,  Amsterdam  and  Harlem,  and 
arrive  at  Alkmaer,  the  headquarters  of  Brune — Situation 
of  military  affairs    in    Holland— The    travellers  proceed  to 


262       MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

the  Hague — Political  state  of  the  country — Capitulation 
of  the  Duke  of  York,  and  evacuation  of  the  territory  of  the 
Dutch  Republic  by  the  Anglo-Russian  army. 

Notwithstanding    the    melancholy    presentiments 
which     had    filled     my    mind,    and   been    only    too 
speedily    verified,    I  left  Italy  with    regret,  and   it 
was    not    without    pain    that,    from    the    heights   of 
Mount    Cenis,   I   gazed   for    the    last   time    at   the 
plains  of  Piedmont,  and  gradually  lost  sight  of  the 
beautiful  country  which  at  that  time  I  had  no  hopes 
of  revisiting.     I  reached  Paris  on  the  Gth  Flore'al, 
year  VI.   (April  25,   1798).     What  a  change    had 
taken  place    during  my  three   years'  absence  !     To 
the  too-simple  manners,  to  the  coarse  language  of 
the  Republic  under  the  Convention,  had  succeeded 
politeness  of  speech,  and  elegance  in  manners  and 
dress.      Thee  and  thou  were  no  longer  used;  "Car- 
magnoles"    were    no    longer    worn;     the    women, 
especially,   had    returned    with    eagerness   to    their 
former  tastes;  fashion  had  resumed  her  sway,  and  a 
passion  for  the  antique  regulated  her  decrees,  to  the 
detriment   of  decency.     Not  that    the    luxury    and 
magnificence  of  a  Court  had  as  yet  been  restored; 
we  had  still  some  steps  to  take  before  returning  to 
those.     Our  habits  were  still  tinged  with  the  rough- 
ness   we    were    leaving    behind    as,    and    with    (lie 
contempt  for  the  "convenances"  that  we  had  so  long 
professed.     Society  was  nol  yel  formed;  there  was 


TEE  DIRECTORY.  263 


no    division  between  its    various    classes.     All    was 

confusion,  and  the  salons  were  crowded  indifferently 

with  Contractors  and  Generals,  with  women  of  easy 

virtue    and    ladies    of    the    ancient    nobility,    with 

patriots   and  returned  emigres.     One   only  thought, 

common    to    all,  occupied    and    drew    together   this 

crowd  of  beings  differing  so  widely  by  birth  and 

education,   the    desire   to    acquire   money ;    and   all 

means  were  good  which  led  to  that  end.     A  woman 

dressed  with  the  greatest  elegance,  did  not  disdain 

the   "  transaction "    of  a  contract,  and    would  even 

exhibit    specimens     of    the     goods    in     which     she 

or    her   protege     had    speculated.      At    that     time 

patronage  was  only  to  be  obtained  by  a  division  of 

profits.     Each  of  the  five  members  of  the  Executive 

Directory  held  a  separate  Court  at  the  Luxembourg. 

They  bad  their  respective  reception  days,  their  own 

particular  circles,  their  courtiers.     But  among  them 

all,  he  who    imitated  the    ways    of   the    nobles    of 

the  ancient  regime  most  closely   was  Barras.     He 

kept    horses,    dogs,    mistresses ;    his    manners   were 

haughty  and  abrupt;  and  it  was  marvellous  to  see 

the  proud   Republicans,   the  Aristides   and    Brutus 

of  the  Convention,  bow  down  before  their  new  idol 

and  adore  his  tastes. 

I  went  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  to  pay  my 
court  at  the  Luxembourg,  but  I  had  little  cause 
to  boast  of  my  reception  there.     Merlin,  in  whose 


264      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


department  the  '  Exterior  Relations  '  were  included, 
and  from  whom  I  endeavoured  to  learn  the  cause 
of  my  recall,  made  me  a  diplomatic  answer,  and  re- 
ferred me  to  his  Minister,  Talleyrand.  With  the 
exception  of  Francois  de  jSTeufchateau,  who  received 
me  kindly  and  invited  me  to  dinner,  the  Directors 
either  did  not  speak  to  me,  or  barely  condescended 
to  look  at  me.  So  soon  as  it  was  perceived  that 
I  was  out  of  favour,  all  those  in  the  rooms  with 
whom  I  had  formerly  been  acquainted  turned  their 
backs  on  me  also.  I  became  convinced  that  I  was 
altogether  in  disgrace,  and  thenceforth  I  gave  up 
those  fatiguing  and  useless  visits.  I  merely  went, 
as  Merlin  had  advised  me,  to  call  upon  Talleyrand. 
He  received  me  with  urbanity,  but  I  could  not. 
obtain  from  him  any  more  light  on  my  destiny  than 
from  his  Director.  He  asked  me,  for  form's  sake,  for 
a  memorandum  of  my  mission  and  of  the  state  of  the 
country  I  had  just  left.  1  promised  to  draw  it  up ; 
but  convinced,  as  1  was,  that  he  would  not  read  it, 
and  that  it  would  be  pains  wasted,  I  spared  myself 
the  task,  and  I  did  well,  for  I  heard  nothing  more 
either  of  the  Minister  or  the  memorandum. 

When  1  arrived  in  Paris,  Bonaparte*  was  still 
there.     I  saw  him  several  times  before  his  departure 

*  After  the  Italian  campaign  the-  (ieneral  discarded  the  "u" 
in  the  spelling  of  his  name,  and  adopted  the  French  form, 
'•  Bonaparte." 


BONAPARTE'S  DISCONTENT.  265 

and  be  continued  very  friendly  towards  me.  He 
treated  me  with  the  same  confidence  as  in  Italy, 
and  in  our  conversations  he  threw  some  light  on  the 
circumstances  that  had  led  him  to  undertake  the 
expedition  to  Egypt.     I  shall  narrate  them  here. 

Bonaparte  had  left  Italy,  dissatisfied  with  the 
Treaty  of  Campo-Formio,  which  was  signed  by  him 
in  a  fit  of  vexation  at  Angereau's  appointment  to 
the  command  of  the  army  of  Germany.  The 
conditions  of  this  peace  were — and  he  knew  it — 
altogether  impolitic ;  extremely  unfavourable  in  the 
present,  and  still  more  unfavourable  for  the  future. 

In  pursuance  of  what  he  had  told  me  at  Turin, 
he  had  gone  to  Rastadt  in  hopes  of  amending  his 
work  ;  but  his  dislike  to  Treilhard  and  Bonnier, 
the  Plenipotentiaries,  whom  he  met  at  the  Congress, 
and  still  more,  perhaps,  the  scandalous  disunion 
between  those  two  negotiators,  prevented  his  suc- 
cess, and  he  returned  to  Paris  entirely  absorbed  in 
the  idea  of  a  descent  upon  England. 

The  survey  which  we  made  of  the  channel  and 
ocean  coasts,  and  the  remarks  of  some  able  men 
whom  he  met  on  his  way,*  induced  him  to  abandon 
this    project,   whose    execution    seemed    to    him,   at 

*  On  his  way  through  Calais  he  closely  interrogated 
M.  Gallois,  who  was  returning  from  England.  That  gentle- 
man's replies  contributed  not  a  little  to  dissuade  Bonaparte 
from  an  attempt,  which,  had  it  failed,  would  have  fatally  injured 
his  reputation. 


266       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


any    rate    for   the    time,    impossible.      But,    having 
given  it  up,  his  impatience  of  his  position,  the  risks 
to  which  he  believed  himself  exposed  in  Paris,  his 
dissatisfaction  with  the   Directory,  whose  members 
dreaded  the  pretensions  of  the  favourite  of  Fortune, 
confirmed  him  in  his  resolution  to  play  an  isolated 
part,  and  to    seek   at    the    head    of   an    army  that 
independence    which    the    absolute    power   he    had 
wielded    in     Italy    had     made    both    a    habit    and 
a    necessity    to    him.       The    world    too    must    be 
dazzled    by    fresh    exploits,    and    France    prepared 
for  what  was  to  come  by  the  glory  of  the  nation 
being  raised  to  the  highest  attainable  point.     Thus 
the  project   of  an  expedition    to   Egypt,   of  which 
j\Ionge    had    conceived   the    first    idea    during    his 
stay    at     Passeriano,*     assumed    consistency,     and 
measures  were  taken  to  carry  it  out.       Bonaparte 
ardently    entered    into    it.      He    carried   away    the 
Government  by  his  fiery   speeches  and    the  ascen- 
dency of  his  reputation,  and  they  on  their  side  were 
glad  to  get  him  out  of  France,  at  any  price.     It  was 
still    easier    for    him    to    influence    men    who    were 
greedy  of  glory,  and   lovers  of  daring  enterprise. 
Every  preliminary  was  dictated  by  him,  the  decrees 
of  the  Directory  were  minuted  by  his   own    hand, 
and   copied    out   by    Francois   de   Neufchateau,  the 

*  Near  Udine,  where  Monge  and  Bonaparte  were  during  tho 
negotiations  of  the  treaty  of  4  lampo-Formio. 


THE  EXPEDITION   TO   EGYPT.  267 

youngest  of  the  Directors,  who  took  the  place  of 
Lagarde,  the  secretary ;  for  the  latter  was  not 
admitted  to  the  secret.  In  fact,  everything  was  his 
doing,  and  it  would  be  unfair  to  accuse  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  day  of  an  enterprise  which  had  such 
fatal  results.  Plans,  projects,  political  and  military 
combinations,  all  were  Bonaparte's ;  the  Directory  is 
to  be  reproached  only  with  having  consented  to 
them. 

While  all  was  in  preparation,  rather  with 
affected  mystery  than  really  in  secret,  the  unfor- 
tunate incident  took  place  in  consequence  of  which 
Bernadotte  and  the  French  Legation  left  Vienna 
after  a  residence  there  of  two  months.*  Scarcely 
was  this  occurrence  known  in  Paris,  than  the  Direc- 
tory, fearing  that  it  might  entail  further  hostilities, 
and  feeling  that  Bonaparte  would  be  infinitely 
useful  to  them  in  such  a  conjuncture,  threw  them- 
selves completely  upon  him  for  aid.  By  a  spon- 
taneous decree,  full  powers  were  granted  to  the 
General,  on  whom  the  task  of  repairing  the  mischief 
devolved. 

*  Bernadotte,  having,  as  ambassador  of  France,  hoisted  the 
tricolor  flag  over  the  door  of  the  Embassy,  the  populace  of 
Vienna  made  a  disturbance  which  endangered  the  safety  of 
the  ambassador  and  the  other  French  there.  This  led  to  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Legation.  It  is  said  that  Bernadotte  hoisted 
the  national  colours  only  in  consequence  of  a  reprimand  ad- 
dressed to  him  on  the  subject  by  the  Directory. 


268       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


It  was  just  at  this  crisis  that  I  arrived  in  Paris 
from  Turin. 

I  found  Bonaparte  pleased  both  with  himself  and 
with  his  position.  He  complained  bitterly  of  what 
he  called  Bernadotte's  mistakes.  "See,"  he  said 
to  me,  "  what  they  cost  us  :  I  must  give  up  the 
greatest  expedition  I  have  as  yet  planned,  in  order 
to  return  to  Rastadt,  and  I  must  renounce  a  project 
whose  execution  might  change  the  political  face 
of  Europe."  But  behind  this  feigned  resentment 
I  could  easily  perceive  that  his  satisfaction  was 
greater  than  the  regrets  he  expressed ;  for,  by 
entrusting  him  with  the  negotiations  occasioned 
by  the  Vienna  affair,  the  Directory  replaced  him 
in  the  position  he  coveted ;  once  more  the  fate  of 
France  and  of  her  Government  was  in  his  hands. 
He  was  the  arbiter  of  peace  and  war,  he  commanded 
the  one  or  made  the  other,  according  as  his  interest 
rendered  peace  or  war  necessary.  Lastly,  either 
as  the  conqueror  of  Austria  for  the  second  time,  or 
;is  a  worshipped  peace-maker,  he  would  return  to 
Paris  with  his  power  increased  by  all  the  moral 
influence  either  title  would  have  given  him  over 
the  nation,  ami  he  would  then  carry  out  what,  in 
fact,  lie  did  afterwards  put  in  execution  on  the  1 8th 
Brumaire. 

But    either    because    lie    did    Q01     conceal     liis    in- 
tentions and   hopes  with  sufficient   care,  so  that  the 


VACILLATION  OF   THE  DIRECTORY.  260 

Directory  perceived  some  of  the  dangers  it  was 
amassing  about  itself,  or  because  a  letter  written 
by  Bonaparte  to  Count  von  Cobentzel  *  had  informed 
the  members  of  the  Directory  of  the  part  which 
the  protector,  whose  support  they  wished  to  obtain, 
intended  to  play,  the  Government  changed  its  mind. 
It  was  decided  that  Bonaparte  should  not  go  to 
Eastadt,  but  that  Francois  de  Neufchateau,  who 
was  to  go  out  of  the  Directory  in  a  month,f  should 
undertake  the  negotiations.  Barras  was  selected 
to  inform  Bonaparte  of  the  change,  and  the  manner 
in  which  he  acquitted  himself  of  his  task  was,  no 
doubt,  one  of  the  causes  of  the  dislike  with  which 
Bonaparte  regarded  him  from  that  time  forth. 

I  am  ignorant  of  the  particulars  of  that  interview, 
but  I  was  a  witness  to  what  followed. 

I  was  with  Bonaparte  on  the  evening  of  the  16th 
Flore'al.  He  had  been  talking  to  me  a  great  deal 
about   his  jonrney   to   Eastadt ;    the   expedition   to 

*  This  letter  was  written  unknown  to  the  Directory.  Berna- 
dotte's  affair  was  little  touched  upon,  but  great  stress  was  laid 
on  the  necessity  of  a  new  arrangement  which  would  end  the 
difficulties  caused  by  the  treaty  of  Campo-Forinio.  Thus  the 
question  of  peace  or  war  was  re-opened,  and  the  aim  of  Bona- 
parte was  accomplished. 

f  During  the  first  five  years  of  the  Constitution  of  year  III., 
these  changes  were  to  be  decided  by  drawing  lots,  but  it  had 
been  agreed  upon  beforehand  that  the  lot  should  fall  to  Francois 
de  Neufchateau,  who  was  appointed  to  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior  as  a  compensation. 


270       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


Egypt  seemed  quite  forgotten.  He  was  even  telling 
us  of  the  kind  of  life  he  meant  to  adopt  on  his  return 
from  Germany.  Just  at  that  moment  Barras  entered 
the  room,  looking  extremely  gloomy.  He  took  little 
part  in  the  conversation,  and  after  a  few  moments' 
silence,  he  and  Bonaparte  went  into  an  adjoining 
cahinet. 

The  interview  lasted  barely  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 
Barras  came  out  first,  and  passed  through  the  draw- 
ing-room, scarcely  exchanging  a  word  with  Madame 
Bonaparte.  The  General  next  made  his  appear- 
ance, spoke  to  nobody,  and  returned  to  his  cabinet, 
slamming  the  door  behind  him.  During  the  night 
he  started  for  Toulon,  and  I  saw  him  no  more  until 
after  the  18th  Brumaire. 

This  anecdote  seems  to  me  to  explain  everything ; 
and  when  I  reflect  on  what  took  place  before  my 
eyes,  I  can  only  see  in  the  expedition  to  Egypt, 
which  proved  so  disastrous  and  so  fatal  to  our  navy 
— sacrificed  by  the  Directory  to  their  desire  to  rid 
themselves  of  a  man  they  dared  not  openly  attack 
— a  fresh  proof  of  the  incalculable  evils  which  are 
inflicted  on  nations  by  the  private  dislikes  or  the  ex- 
aggerated pretensions  of  the  men  who  are  placed  at 
their  head  either  by  chance  or  by  a  fatal  celebrity. 

Bonaparte,  for  whom  there  remained  no  alter- 
native but  that  of  undertaking  this  expedition  or 
of  losing    his    position   altogether,  did   not  disguise 


TALLEYRAND'S  CONDUCT.  271 

from  himself  the  risks  he  was  about  to  run, 
although  at  the  time  of  his  departure  he  hoped 
that  the  steps  taken  at  Constantinople  might 
obviate  some  of  these  risks,  and  that  the  Porte 
would  be  induced  to  consent  to  the  occupation 
of  Egypt  by  France.  This,  no  doubt,  was  a  great 
delusion,  and  I  shall  never  believe  that  Talleyrand, 
who  encouraged  Bonaparte  on  this  point  more  than 
any  one,  can  have  sincerely  shared  it.  Mean- 
while Bonaparte,  who  generally  endeavoured  to  im- 
plicate those  men  whose  advice  he  had  followed  in 
any  risk  that  might  arise  from  acting  on  it,  thus 
obtaining  a  guarantee  against  treachery  or  desertion, 
had  not  forgotten  to  insist  that  Talleyrand  should 
be  sent  as  ambassador  to  Constantinople,  and  when 
he  left  Paris  he  was  convinced  that  Talleyrand 
would  be  installed  in  his  new  post  before  his  own 
arrival  in  Egypt.  But  this  time  he  was  dealing 
with  a  man  who  was  more  subtle  than  himself. 
Talleyrand  let  him  depart,  and,  foreseeing  the 
issue  of  the  expedition,  remained  quietly  in  Paris, 
where  he  continued  to  abet  the  passions  and  the 
policy  of  the  Directors,  until  the  hour  when  the 
mistakes  of  that  Government  and  its  consequent 
reverses  dragged  down  the  Minister  in  the  fall  of 
the  Directory.  It  was  thus  that  Talleyrand  got  the 
better  of  Bonaparte,  whom  he  supported  neither 
in  Paris  nor  at  Constantinople,  and  also  of  Francois 


272       ME MO IBS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


de  Neufchateau,  who  had  consented  to  go  out  of 
the  Directory  only  on  condition  of  succeeding  Talley- 
rand, but  had  to  content  himself  with  the  Ministry 
of  the  Interior. 

Bonaparte's  departure  left  me  in  Paris  quite 
isolated  from  public  affairs.  I  saw  neither  the 
Directors  nor  the  Ministers,  who  distrusted  me  on 
account  of  my  intimate  relations  with  the  General. 
I  then  attached  myself  more  closely  to  Joseph 
Bonaparte ;  but  he  had  little  influence.  Perhaps 
the  friendship  he  evinced  for  me  was  one  reason 
why  the  Government  gave  me  no  further  employ- 
ment. However,  Francois  de  Neufchateau,  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  having  appointed  a 
Council  to  advise  him  on  the  affairs  of  his  depart- 
ment, I  was  named  one  of  its  members.  But 
events  were  hurrying  on,  and  I  was  destined  shortly 
to  return  to  the  stormy  career  of  politics. 

The  Executive  Directory,  having  vanquished  the 
National  Representation,  which  was  decimated  on 
the  ISili  Fructidor,  and  having  rid  itself  of  Bona- 
parte, who  had  so  powerfully  contributed  to  the 
success  of  that  fatal  day,  had  failed  to  profit  by 
its  victory  —  had  indeed  made  one  blunder  after 
another  from  that  moment.  The  Administration 
of  1 1 10  Interior,  the  general  policy  and  manage- 
ment of  the  war,  were  all  marked  al  the  end  of 
year    VI.,   and   during    the    firsl    nine    months   of 


STATE  OF  THE   COUNTRY.  273 

year  VII.,  by  total  incapacity.  Victory  had  al- 
together forsaken  the  French  flag,  and  notwithstand- 
ing some  partial  successes  obtained  by  Generals 
Ohampionnet  and  Joubert,  the  arrival  of  Suwarrow's 
army,  the  surrender  of  Mantua,  and  the  defeat  of 
Macdonald  on  the  Trebia,  had  caused  our  loss  of 
Italy.  War  was  again  declared  with  Austria  ;* 
the  Congress  of  Rastadt  was  broken  up,  its  last 
sittings  being  marked  by  the  assassination  of  the 
French  Ministers,  Bonnier,  Roberjot  and  Jean  Debry ; 
a  terrible  event  whose  causes  have  not  been  com- 
pletely ascertained  even  yet.  The  opening  of  the 
campaign  against  Austria  had  been  unfortunate, 
and  the  retreat  of  General  Jourdan  before  the 
superior  forces  of  the  Archduke  Charles,  which, 
although  admired  by  military  men,  was  fatal  to 
France,  had  reduced  us  to  a  perilously  defensive 
attitude.  Switzerland  was  invaded  by  the  Russians 
and  the  Austrian s,  who  were  restrained  with  diffi- 
culty by  Massena  and  Lecourbe.  The  ancient 
frontiers  of  France  were  already  endangered,  and 
insurrection  was  again  raising  its  head  in  La  Vendee 
and  the  other  Western  Departments.  So  many 
reverses,  misfortunes  and  ill-advised  combinations, 
had  exasperated  the  public  mind,  and  the  Directory, 
assailed  by  reproaches  and  clamour  on  all  sides,  was 
unable    to   withstand    the  storm.       The   Legislative 

*  On  the  2nd  VentSse,  year  VII.  (March  12,  1799). 
VOL.    I.  T 


274      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Body,  supported  by  public  opinion  and  by  a  new 
Jacobin  Club,  which  held  its  meetings  in  the  Riding- 
School  of  the  Tuileries,*  could  now  retaliate  on 
the  18th  Fructidor,  and  in  its  turn  dismissed  three 
Directors.  By  these  fresh  attacks  on  the  Constitu- 
tion of  year  III.,  the  way  was  prepared  for  its 
conrplete  destruction. 

The  three  dismissed  Directors,  Merlin,  Lareveillere- 
Lepaux  and  Treilhard,  were  replaced  by  Gohier, 
Roger-Ducos  and  G-eneral  Moulin,  three  men  hither- 
to unknown.  Barras  and  Sieyes  remained.  The 
overthrow  of  the  Directory  involved  that  of  a 
portion  of  the  Ministry.  Cambaceres  was  made 
Minister  of  Justice ;  Quinette,  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior; Reinhart,  formerly  my  colleague  at  the 
Foreign  Office,  succeeded  Talleyrand  in  the  same 
office ;  and  Bernadotte  was  made  Minister  of 
War.f 

The  departure  of  Francois  de  Neufchateau  was 
soon  followed  by  the  suppression  of  the  Council  of 
which  I  was  a  member.  However,  as  Bernadotte 
was  brother-in-law  to  Joseph  Bonaparte,  with 
whom  I  had  continued  on  friendly  terms,  the  latter 
thought    I    should  do    well    to    return  to    the    War 

*  On  account  of  its  meeting  in  this  placo,  the  Club  was  known, 
during  its  existence  of  soven  or  oight  months,  as  the  "  Club  du 

Manage." 

f  This  little  political  revolution  occurred  on  the  27th  to 
30th  Prairial,  peai  \  II.  (June  15  to  18,  L799). 


TEE  AUTHOR'S   OWN  POSITION.  275 

Department,  and  proposed  me  to  the  Minister  as 
Secretary-General.  But  Bernadotte,  who  was  just 
then  completely  devoted  to  the  new  Jacobins,  and 
surrounded  by  the  most  violent  members  of  the 
Riding-School  Club,  on  whom  he  bestowed  every 
vacant  place  in  his  department,  did  not  consider 
me  sufficiently  patriotic,  and  declined  to  accede  to 
Joseph  Bonaparte's  request. 

This  annoying  state  of  things  had  lasted  for 
four  months,  when  an  accidental  circumstance  came 
to  my  aid,  and  caused  me  once  more  to  leave 
Paris. 

Deforgues,  of  whom  I  had  occasion  to  speak  in 
the  second  chapter  of  these  Memoirs,  and  to  whom 
I  owed  my  entry  into  a  diplomatic  career,  was 
appointed  in  Vende'miaire,  year  VIII.,  as  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  to  the  Batavian  Republic,  where 
he  was  at  first  to  be  associated  with,  and  after- 
wards to  succeed,  Florent-Gruyot,  then  at  the 
Hague.  Deforgues,  with  the  consent  of  the  Direc- 
tory, made  me  an  offer  to  accompany  him,  but 
without  an  ostensible  position.  A  letter  from  the 
Minister  of  Exterior  Relations  entrusted  me  only 
with  a  financial  negotiation  at  Amsterdam,  for  the 
purpose  of  claiming  for  France  the  Batavian  scrip 
that  belonged  to  us,  as  payment  of  the  contributions 
agreed  upon  between  the  two  States,  and  which  had 
been  deposited  in  that  city. 

t  2 


276      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

I  eagerly  embraced  this  opportunity  of  escaping 
from  the  trying  position  in  which  I  found  myself, 
and  I  accepted  both  Deforgues'  proposition  and  the 
mission  offered  me  by  the  Minister  of  Exterior 
Relations.  Bernadotte,  who  had  not  been  able  to 
agree  with  the  Executive  Directory,  had  already 
left  the  War  Office.  He  was  succeeded  by  Dubois- 
Crance,  a  still  more  ardent  patriot  than  he, 
but  who  did  not  entertain  a  similar  prejudice 
against  me. 

I  left  Paris  on  the  13th  Vendemiaire,  year  VIII. 
(October  5,  1799),  just  as  the  news  was  arriving 
of  the  victory,  or  rather  the  succession  of  victories, 
gained  by  Massena  over  the  Russians  in  his  fourteen 
days'  fighting  before  Zurich  ;  memorable  days  during 
which  Massena  displayed  the  highest  military  talent. 
Never  was  victory  so  disputed,  never  was  victory 
more  necessary.  France  would  have  been  invaded 
had  Massena  been  defeated. 

In  passing  through  Morfontaine,  I  stayed  with 
Joseph  Bonaparte.  He  approved  my  reasons  for 
leaving  Paris  ;  but  at  the  same  time  let  me  see  that 
he  hoped  my  absence  would  not  be  long,  and  that 
the  return  of  his  brother  would  bring  it  to  an  end. 
On  this  occasion  he  told  me  that  means  had  been 
found  of  informing  the  General  of  the  situation  in 
France,  and  even  of  sending  him  an  order  of  recall, 
to    which    I  lie    signatures    of    the    members    of    the 


A    CLEVER   DEVICE.  277 

Directory  had  been  obtained  from  them  unawares, 
while  they  were  signing  other  papers.  Bourbaki, 
a  Greek,  long  attached  to  the  Bonaparte  family, 
had  undertaken  to  convey  the  message  and  the 
order  to  Egypt,  for  the  sum  of  24,000  francs 
(£9  GO),  which  had  been  handed  over  to  him.  The 
two  brothers,  Lucien  and  Joseph  Bonaparte,  the 
contrivers  of  this  clever  device,  were  waiting  im- 
patiently for  news  of  the  result.  The  only  return 
I  could  make  for  their  confidence  was  by  earnest 
wishes  for  their  success.  At  that  time  I  regarded 
Bonaparte's  return  as  the  happiest  event  that  could 
befall  my  country.  He,  alone,  seemed  to  me  able 
to  save  her  from  the  ruin  now  impending ;  and 
on  resuming  my  journey  I  carried  with  me  at  least 
a  glimmer  of  hope  which  consoled  me  for  the 
necessity  I  was  under  of  separating  myself  from  my 
family  and  of  leaving  France. 

We  journeyed  through  Lille,  Menin,  and  Bruges, 
whence  we  intended  to  go  on  to  Zealand ;  but 
Deforgues,  who  was  in  haste  to  reach  Holland, 
having  relinquished  that  idea,  we  crossed  the 
Scheldt,  and  proceeded  to  Antwerp,  where  we 
stayed  one  clay.  In  spite  of  the  preparations  for 
commerce  made  at  the  mouth  of  the  Scheldt,  the 
city  remained  deserted  and  without  trade.  There 
were  no  signs  that  she  would  ever  recover  her 
ancient  splendour. 


278       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


We  left  Antwerp  for  Helvoetsluys  on  the  13th 
Vendemiaire  (October  9),  and  arrived  there,  after  a 
most  fatiguing  day,  at  ten  in  the  evening.  Helvoet- 
sluys is  situated  on  the  Bies  Bosch,  and  both  wind 
and  tide  being  favourable,  we  embarked  at  night 
on  a  decked  vessel,  which  brought  us  to  Rotter- 
dam in  six  hours.  I  had  already  (in  1788)  made 
a  pleasure  trip  to  Holland,  but  the  pleasure  with 
which  I  contemplated  the  aspect  of  that  city  when 
approached  from  the  Meuse  was  quite  new.  The 
approach  to  Venice  by  the  lagoons  has  been  greatly 
admired ;  I  was  now  enabled  to  compare  the  two 
points  of  view,  which  in  some  respects  are  much 
alike,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  give  the  preference 
to  Rotterdam. 

At  Rotterdam  we  were  but  a  few  leagues  from 
the  Hague.  Deforgues,  however,  thought  it  of 
great  importance  to  see  General  Brune,  before 
making  his  mission  officially  known,  and  the  General 
was  just  then  at  the  extremity  of  North  Holland. 
We  therefore  avoided  the  Hague,  and  travelled  by 
land  to  Gouda,  and  thence  to  Amsterdam.  It  is 
when  journeying  along  this  route  that  a  fair  idea 
of  Holland  may  be  gained.  Nothing  can  equal  the 
charm  of  the  landscape;  the  eye  dwells  with  delight 
on  the  emerald-green  pastures,  with  their  herds  of 
<;ittlc,  on  the  innumerable  winding  canals  covered 
with  constantly  moving  vessels.     While  the  heart  is 


HOLLAND.  279 


gladdened  by  this  rich  and  smiling  panorama  of 
peace  and  plenty,  which,  in  spite  of  its  monotony,  is 
always  fascinating,  the  imagination  is  struck  with 
amazement  by  the  works  that  have  been  undertaken, 
by  the  victories  won  over  Nature,  in  order  to  wrest 
these  half-submerged  lands  from  the  waters,  and  to 
turn  pestilential  and  uninhabitable  marshes  into 
delightful  gardens  and  fertile  pasturage.  These 
miracles  of  art,  these  noble  results  of  liberty,  rank  in 
the  estimation  of  a  friend  of  humanity  far  above  all 
the  marvels  of  antiquity. 

We  slept  at  Amsterdam,  and  on  the  next  day,  the 
20th  Yende'miaire  (October  12),  we  started  very  early 
in  the  morning  to  make  our  way  through  Haarlem 
to  Alkmaer,  the  headquarters  of  the  French  army 
in  North  Holland. 

The  road  alongside  the  canal  from  Amsterdam  to 
Haarlem  is  a  very  fine  one.  Halfway  between  the 
two  towns  are  the  sluices  which  preserve  communi- 
cation between  the  Lake  of  Haarlem  and  the  gulf 
called  HetY.*  The  waters  of  this  gulf  are,  at  high 
tides,  higher  than  the  surrounding  land,  and  in  the 
construction  of   the    dykes    every   means    has   been 

*•  Het  Y,  properly  the  Greek  I,  on  account  of  its  shape,  is  a 
mass  of  water  which  issues  from  the  Zuyderzee,  and  is  con- 
nected with  it  by  the  Strait  of  Pampus  and  by  the  canal  on 
which  Amsterdam  is  built.  The  canal  bears  the  same  name  as 
the  river.  Het  Y  spreads  far  over  the  country,  where  it  takes 
the  name  of  Brclte  Wasser,  Wide  Water. 


280      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

resorted  to,  to  restrain  this  mass  of  water,  which 
would  inundate  ail  Holland.  The  dykes  present  the 
appearance  of  a  wide  belt,  following  and  marking  out 
the  outline  of  the  gulf.  They  are  closed  at  the  lower 
end  by  a  wattle-fence,  against  which  is  an  embank- 
ment of  earth  supported  by  strong  piles,  in  close 
proximity  to  each  other.  There  are  four  sluices, 
placed  two  by  two,  in  parallel  lines.  Two  of  them 
open  on  to  HetY  and  two  on  to  Lake  Haarlem. 
The  sea  beats  unceasingly  against  this  barrier,  and 
its  waves,  which  seem  to  threaten  destruction  to  the 
low-lying  land,  have  for  three  centuries  broken 
against  it  in  vain,  nor  succeeded  in  breaking  it  down. 
At  low  tide  the  level  of  the  waters  of  Het  Y  becomes 
lower  than  that  of  Lake  Haarlem,  and  the  sluices 
can  then  be  opened  to  let  out  the  overflow  of  the 
lake  into  the  sea,  and  thus  diminish  the  volume  of 
its  waters. 

After  admiring  these  daring  and  splendid  works, 
we  continued  our  way  by  Haarlem,  Beverwick,  and 
Castricum,  traversing  the  battle-field  where,  a  few 
days  before,  the  French  had  gained  a  decisive 
victory  over  the  united  forces  of  the  English  and 
Russians.  We  at  last  reached  Alkmaer  on  the 
evening  of  the  20th  Yendcmiaire. 

The  following  is  a  sketch  of  the  military  situation 
at  that  time  : 

The   English    had   appeared   on    the  Dutch   coasts, 


THE  MILITARY  SITUATION.  281 

near  the  Helder  foreland,  in  the  middle  of  August 
1799,  and  had  seized  on  the  Dutch  fleet  stationed 
at  Texel.  The  crews  of  these  vessels,  having  been 
previously  bribed,  had  mutinied.  The  English 
had,  at  the  same  time,  effected  a  landing,  and  not- 
withstanding some  opposition  offered  by  General 
Daendels  at  the  head  of  the  Dutch  troops,  they 
had  taken  up  a  position  in  the  Zype.*  Meanwhile, 
General  Brune,  having  been  despatched  by  the 
Directory  to  command  the  French  and  Batavian 
troops,  had  arrived  at  Alkmaer,  on  the  17  th  Fructi- 
dor,  year  VII.  (September  3,  1799).  But  the  division 
which  were  to  form  his  army  not  having  come  up, 
he  had  not  been  able  to  act  on  the  offensive,  and  had 
restricted  himself  to  checking  the  enemy.  The 
English  army  in  the  meantime,  having  been  rein- 
forced towards  the  middle  of  September  by  the  first 
division  of  the  Russian  troops,  comprising  from  twelve 
to  thirteen  thousand  men,  mustered  from  thirty 
to  thirty-five  thousand.  This  force  was  commanded 
by  the  Duke  of  York,  who  resolved  on  attacking 
General  Brune  before  he  should  have  been  joined 
by  the  troops  he  was  expecting  from  Belgium.     The 

*  A  large  tract  of  land  in  North  Holland,  formerly  unculti- 
vated, but  which  had  been  tilled  by  tbe  labours  of  the  Dutch. 
The  canals  and  roads  which  bound  or  traverse  this  island,  as  it 
may  be  called,  are  natural  entrenchments,  rendering  it  almost 
impregnable. 


282       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


engagement  took  place  on  the  third  complementary 
day  of  year  VII.  (September  10,  1700),  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Bergen.  The  victory  was  undecided, 
and  after  the  battle  the  two  armies  again  took  up 
the  positions  they  had  held  on  the  previous  day. 
The  English  once  more  intrenched  themselves  in  the 
Zype  where  they  awaited  the  coming  of  the  second 
Russian  division.  General  Brune,  on  his  side,  forti- 
fied his  position,  and  held  himself  on  the  defensive. 

The  two   armies   remained    thus   until    the    11th 
Yende'miaire  (October  3),  on   which   day  the  Duke 
of  York  led  a  general    attack  on   the  French   and 
Batavians.     General  Brune  evacuated  Alkmaer,  and 
fell  back  on  an  excellent  position,  fixing  his  head- 
quarters   at    Beverwick,    about    seven    miles    from 
Haarlem,  where,  having  received  considerable  rein- 
forcements between  the  12th  and  13th  Yende'miaire, 
he  maintained    his    defensive    attitude.      Lastly,  on 
the  14th  Yende'miaire,  the  Duke  of  York,  unable  to 
draw  the   enemy    out   of   his  position,  made  a  des- 
perate attack    along   the  whole   line   of  the   Gallo- 
Dutch    army.      This  affair,    which  took  place    be- 
tween  Beverwick  and  Castricum,  was  very  bloody 
and  undecisive    from  daybreak  till  nightfall,  when 
Brune  himself,  charging  at  the  head  of  his  column, 
forced  the  English  to  relinquish  the  battle-field.    All 
tli-  advantages  gained  <>n  that  day  were,  however, 
by  no  means  fully  known.     The  first  despatches  ol 


RESULTS   OF   THE    VICTORY.  283 

the  General  confined  themselves  to  announcing1  his 
repulse  of  the  enemy,  and  the  capture  of  fifteen 
hundred  prisoners. 

It  was  not  until  the  next  day  that  the  brilliant 
results  of  the  victory  were  properly  appreciated. 
The  English  abandoned  all  the  positions  they  had 
held  a  few  days  before,  and  returned  once  more 
to  the  shelter  of  the  entrenchments  of  the  Zype, 
after  evacuating  Alkmaer,  and  all  the  towns  of 
North  Holland.  The  French  and  the  Batavians 
re-entered  these  towns  on  the  16th  Vendemiaire, 
and  even  took  possession  of  several  places  they  had 
not  occupied  before  their  retreat,  and  which  enabled 
them  to  press  the  enenry  still  more  closely. 

Such  was  the  position  of  the  armies  when  we  saw 
General  Brune  at  Alkmaer.  He  was  full  of  hope 
and  confidence  as  to  the  issues  of  the  campaign,  and 
did  not  for  one  instant  doubt  the  success  of  our  arms. 
He  only  hesitated  to  attack  the  enemy  in  his  formid- 
able entrenchments,  because  an  attempt  to  force  them 
would  entail  great  bloodshed.  On  this  account  he 
thought  it  well  to  examine  whether  it  would  not 
be  wiser  to  wait  until  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
supplies,  and  the  approach  of  the  winter,  which 
would  soon  prevent  an  embarkation,  should  deter- 
mine the  Duke  of  York  to  capitulate. 

The  General  was  ill-disposed  towards  the  Batavian 
Government.     He  seemed  to  have  no  doubt  that  some 


284       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  3II0T  BE  MELITO. 

of  its  members  had  come  to  an  understanding  with 
the  English,  and  as  a  proof  of  this,  he  cited  the  con- 
fidence displayed  by  the  Duke  of  York  in  the  good- 
will of  those  magistrates  which,  according  to  him, 
had  induced  the  English  to  undertake  the  expedition. 

We  left  Alkmaer  on  the  21st  Vendemiaire,  and 
the  following  day  we  arrived  at  the  Hague. 

For  the  clear  comprehension  of  the  events  that 
took  place  during  my  stay  in  that  city,  and  which  I 
shall  have  to  narrate,  a  succinct  account  of  the 
political  state  of  the  country  is  necessary. 

Holland  had  been  conquered  by  the  French  in  the 
middle  of  the  winter  1704,  1705.  Pichegru  had 
entered  Amsterdam  the  21st  Nivose,  year  HI. 
(January  10,  1705).  The  Stadtholder  had  fled ;  the 
English  had  re-embarked,  and  the  whole  of  Holland, 
left  to  herself,  had  imitated  France  and  adopted  a 
Republican  Constitution.  But  this  Constitution  had 
been  of  slow  growth.  The  habits  of  the  Dutch,  who 
are  more  phlegmatic  than  we  are,  the  obstacles 
raised  by  the  numerous  and  powerful  partisans  of 
the  House  of  Orange  and  <>l  the  feudal  system,  had 
prolonged  the  debates  on  the  form  of  the  Constitution 
for  more  than  two  years.  Two  National  Assemblies 
had  met  successively  in  the  years  17'.».~>,  1 7 1 M »  and 
L  7  9  7,  and  the  result  of  their  labours,  on  being  sub- 
mitted to  the  approval  of  the  Dutch  people,  had 
been  rejected.     The  Public  Administration,  existing 


A    COUP   D'ETAT.  285 


provisionally  under  the  name  of  States-General  or 
National  Assembly,  was  almost  paralysed,  and  this 
state  of  things,  sedulously  fostered  by  the  enemies  of 
France,  laid  the  country  open  to  foreign  invasion 
at  a  time  when  the  fear  of  renewed  hostilities  in 
Germany  prevented  our  retaining  sufficient  troops 
in  Holland  for  the  defence  of  that  country. 

In  this  dangerous  conjuncture  the  Executive 
Directory  in  Paris,  which  never  acted  except  in  an 
irregular  manner,  could  find  no  other  expedient  than 
a  Coup  d'Etat,  whose  result,  being  similar  to  that  of 
the  18th  Fructidor  in  France,  would  overthrow  the 
Stadtholder's  party  and  the  Federals,  and  would 
throw  the  direction  of  affairs  into  the  hands  of  the 
Patriots,  as  they  were  called  at  that  time. 

This  Coup  d'Etat  was  effected  on  January  22,  17D8 
(3rd  Pluviose,  year  VI.).  A  kind  of  popular  insurrec- 
tion having  occurred,  the  principal  members  of  the 
Provisional  Government  and  twenty-two  deputies  of 
the  National  Assembly  were  arrested,  the  acts  of  the 
last  States-General  were  annulled,  the  unity  and 
indivisibility  of  the  Batavian  Republic  were  pro- 
claimed, and  the  National  Assembly  took  the  name 
of  Constituent  Assembly.  Following  the  example  of 
the  capital,  the  provincial  administrations  and  the 
municipalities  were  changed,  the  Federalists  were 
exiled,  and  the  party  of  the  Patriots  was  everywhere 
triumphant.     The  new  Constituent  Assembly  acted 


286       MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

with  as  much  celerity  as  the  preceding  Assemblies 
had  acted  with  procrastination.  An  Executive 
Directory  was  appointed,  and  in  two  months  a  new 
Constitution  was  drawn  up. 

This  was  adopted  on  March  17  (27th  Ventose), 
and  was  submitted  for  the  sanction  of  the  Dutch 
people,  who,  being  gathered  together  in  primary 
assemblies  on  April  23  (4th  Floreal),  bestowed  their 
approval  on  it.  The  Constitution  was  an  exact 
reproduction  of  that  of  France  ;  there  was  a  Legisla- 
tive Body  divided  into  twTo  Chambers,  and  consisting, 
when  first  formed,  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of 
the  Constituent  Assembly ;  an  Executive  Directory, 
Ministers,  &c.  A  general  fete,  held  on  May  19, 
1708  (30th  Floreal,  year  VI.),  inaugurated  the  new 
Institutions.  But,  notwithstanding  this  outward 
demonstration  of  universal  satisfaction,  the  various 
parties  were  by  no  means  reconciled.  The  so-called 
Patriots,  so  soon  as  they  had  seized  on  power,  abused 
it,  removing  from  their  places  and  prosecuting  all 
those  who  were  not  exclusively  of  their  opinion,  and 
arousing  discontent  that  was  justified  by  their 
conduct.  They  estranged,  in  particular,  General 
Daendels,  a  man  of  an  enterprising  spirit,  and  of 
justly  deserved  military  reputation  acquired  under 
Pichegru  and  Moreau.  The  G-eneral  seemed 
first  to  approve  of  the  events  of  January  22,  but 
when   he  perceived  thai  authority  was  falling  into 


DAENDELS.  287 


the  hands  of  men  whose  fanatical  republicanism  he 
was  far  from  sharing,  he  became  the  enemy  of  the 
Government,  and  assumed  so  threatening  an  attitude 
that  the  Dutch  Directory  resolved  to  have  him 
arrested.  On  being  informed  of  this  intention, 
Daendels  fled  to  Paris.  Once  there,  he  curried 
favour  with  the  Directors,  decried  the  Government 
of  his  country  to  them,  and  obtained  their  approval 
of  a  project  he  had  conceived  for  its  overthrow, 
and  for  the  substitution  of  one  more  in  accordance 
with  his  own  views. 

Armed  with  an  assurance  that  he  would  not 
be  disowned  by  France,  the  General  returned 
to  the  Hague,  gained  over  to  his  party  five  of  the 
Ministers  of  the  Directory,  and,  at  the  head  of  a  few 
grenadiers,  he  invested  the  Directory  in  broad  day 
and  arrested  the  members.  The  result  of  this  daring 
deed  was  an  entire  change  of  the  Government  and 
the  Administration.  A  new  Directory  was  formed  ; 
Daendels  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Batavian 
army,  and  the  extreme  Patriot  party  was  checked. 
Thus  the  supreme  power  passed  into  the  hands  of 
less  fanatical  men,  better  qualified  to  manage  public 
affairs,  but  who,  like  their  predecessors,  found  them- 
selves forced  to  adopt  violent  measures  for  the 
maintenance  of  their  authority. 

More  than  a  year  had  elapsed  since  this  last 
revolution,    when    the    English    carried    out    their 


288       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

project  of  invading  Holland.  So  soon  as  it  was 
known  that  they  had  appeared  on  the  coast,  the 
Patriot  party  failed  not  to  spread  the  report  that 
this  attempt  was  made  in  consequence  of  an  under- 
standing between  the  English  and  the  members  of 
the  Government,  and  that  the  former  expected  to 
find  the  interior  of  the  country  favourable  to  them. 
Nor  indeed  can  it  be  doubted  that  the  English 
really  reckoned  on  this.  Their  own  conduct,  as  well 
as  the  mutiny  of  the  crews  of  the  Dutch  fleet, 
which  surrendered  to  them  without  having  fired  a 
gun,  prove  that  they  had  made  use  of  means  of 
persuasion,  and  that  they  counted  on  their  effect. 

We  must,  however,  do  justice  to  the  Dutch 
authorities,  who  showed  more  firmness  and  decision 
in  these  critical  circumstances  than  might  have  been 
expected  ;  General  Daendels,  especially,  whom  the 
Patriot  party  had.  formerly  accused  of  having 
ungarrisoned  the  Holder  in  order  to  deliver  up  the 
fleet  to  the  English,  acted  with  great  resolution  and 
courage  in  the  first  engagements  with  the  enemy. 
He  was  unable  to  repel  them,  but  he  kept  them  in 
check  until  the  arrival  <>f  General  Brune.  Shortly 
afterwards  the  victory  of  Beverwick,  by  dispelling 
the  fears  or  the  hopes  which  were  aroused  by  the 
presence  of  the  English,  according  to  the  various 
interests  by  which  men's  minds  were  moved,  hnd 
strengthened  the  Qovernmenl  and  united  the  parties, 


DAENDELS.  289 


at  least  in  appearance.  The  Directory  had  acquired 
some  confidence,  but  it  was  beginning  to  perceive  the 
advantages  that  his  military  successes  secured  to 
the  French  General,  and  felt  more  than  ever  its 
dependence  on  France.  On  the  other  hand,  General 
Daendels,  although  this  Directory  was  his  own  work, 
became  clay  by  day  more  formidable  to  it,  on  account 
of  his  overweening  pretensions,  and  gratitude  for  his 
services  became  very  burdensome  to  the  Government. 

Such  was  the  position  of  affairs  when  we  arrived 
at  the  Hague.  The  aim  of  the  mission  confided  to 
Deforgues  was  not  clearly  defined.  At  the  time 
of  the  landing;  of  the  Eno-Hsh  in  Holland  the  French 
Directory,  ill  at  ease  as  to  the  consequences  of  that 
aggression,  and  with  little  reliance  in  the  talents  or 
trustworthiness  of  Florent-Guyot,  whom,  neverthe- 
less, they  had  appointed  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
at  the  Hague  a  few  months  before,  conceived  the  idea 
of  giving  him  a  colleague  on  whom  they  could  more 
confidently  reckon,  and  who,  bearing  the  same  title 
and  invested  with  the  same  attributes,  would  direct 
affairs  in  conformity  with  the  views  of  the  French 
Government.  Nothing  more  wildly  extravagant 
can  be  conceived.  It  was  evident  that  the  two 
could  not  agree,  and  that  the  Minister  who  until 
now  had  exercised  his  functions  independently, 
would  never  consent  to  submit  to  the  instructions  of 
the  new  comer.      I  was  therefore  not  at  all  surprised 

vol.   i.  u 


290       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


at  the  failure  of  this  plan.     Florent-Guyot  received 
us  very  coldly ;  a  long  discussion  arose  between  him 
and    Deforgues,    in    the    course    of    which    Florent- 
Guyot  made  bitter  complaints  of  the  insult  inflicted 
on  him,  declined  to  come  to  any  kind  of  terms,  and 
made  us  feel  that  our  position  was  an  embarrassing 
one.     On  the   very   next  day,    therefore,   after  our 
arrival  at  the   Hague,  I  wrote    to  Keinhart  that  it 
was  imperatively  necessary  one  of  the  two  Ministers 
should  be  recalled.     While  awaiting  a  reply  to  that 
letter,  we   could  not    remain   inactive.      Deforgues 
presented  his  letters  of  credit,  and  saw  the  members 
of    the    Dutch    Directory,    who,    being    unable    to 
understand  this  diplomatic  anomaly,  knew  not  with 
which   of  the    two    Ministers    they    ought   to   deal. 
Fortunately,  circumstances  had  changed,  and  fear  of 
the  progress  of  the  English  arms  was  nearly  at  an 
end.     Our  mission  was  therefore  almost  objectless  ; 
only  its  absurdity  remained. 

Very  soon,  in  fact,  all  danger  completely  dis- 
appeared. General  Brune  had  just  concluded  the 
terms  of  a  capitulation  with  the  Duke  of  York,  in 
virtue  of  which  the  Anglo-Russian  army  was  to 
re-embark  and  evacuate  the  lands,  coasts,  islands 
and  seas  of  the  Dutch  Republic  within  fifteen 
days.*     Brune  had  demanded  the  restitution  of  the 

*  This  capitulation  was  signed  at  Alkmaer,  26th  Vendemiaire, 
year    VIII.    (Ootohef    18,    L799),    between    Brigadier-General 


THE  CAPITULATION.  291 

Dutch  fleet  as  one  of  the  conditions ;  but  the 
Duke  of  York  did  not  hold  himself  authorized  to 
agree  to  the  restitution,  and  had  confined  himself 
to  promising  his  good  offices  with  the  English 
Government ;  an  intervention  from  which  nothing 
was  to  be  expected. 

The  capitulation  was,  however,  advantageous  on 
every  point  ;  it  put  an  end  to  the  war,  freed  the 
Dutch  territory  from  a  formidable  enemy,  and  in- 
flicted disgrace  upon  the  English,  while  it  ruined 
their  credit  in  the  country.  These  were  considerable 
results,  and  nothing  was  wanting  to  the  glory  of 
the  French  General. 

He  hastened  to  the  Hague  in  order  to  enjoy  his 
triumph. 

The  flags  taken  at  the  battle  of  Beverwick  were 
presented  with  great  pomp  to  the  Dutch  Directory  ; 
public  fetes  were  given,  Brune  was  received  with 
great  magnificence  by  the  Dutch  Government  and 
was  loaded  with  honours  and  flattering  distinctions. 
But,  in  escaping  from  the  English  and  Russian 
armies,  the  Dutch  Republic  fell  under  another 
yoke,  no  less  heavy.  Victory  had  made  the  French 
absolute  masters  of  the  country ;  the  victorious 
General  demanded  large  sums  of  money  and  con- 
stantly   complained   of  not    receiving   enough.     He 


Rostolan  and  Major-General  Knox.     The  text  will  be  found  in 
the  Muuiteur  of  5th  Brumaire,  year  VIII. 

u  2 


292      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

imperiously  dictated  laws  which  had  to  be  obeyed, 
and,  notwithstanding  the  deference  shown  to  his 
wishes,  his  dissatisfaction  with  the  Directory  increased 
in  the  measure  of  his  exactions.  In  the  course  of 
several  conversations  with  President  Yan  Hoff,  I  was 
enabled  to  perceive  how  intolerable  this  state  of 
dependence  had  become,  and  that  it  still  further  es- 
tranged the  inhabitants,  who  were  already  so  ill-dis- 
posed towards  us.  However,  far  from  incurring 
blame  in  Paris,  the  General  was  encouraged  rather 
to  multiply  his  exactions  than  to  restrict  them.  He 
had  induced  the  French  Directory  to  adopt  his  pre- 
judices against  some  of  the  members  of  the  Dutch 
Government,  and  particularly  against  Yan  der  Goes, 
the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  Reinhart,  who 
by  having  Florent-Guyot  recalled,  had  made  our 
position  more  tenable,  and  augmented  our  influence, 
wrote  to  us  in  a  more  pacific  sense ;  but  Brune  paid 
no  attention  to  our  information  and  laughed  at  our 
moderation.  In  short,  he  completely  carried  his 
point,  and  on  the  11th  Brumaire  (Nov.  10)  we 
received  orders  from  the  Directory  to  demand  the 
dismissal  of  the  four  Ministers:  Yan  der  Goes, 
from  'External  Relations,'  Pyman,  from  War; 
Spoores,  from  the  Navy;  and  Gogol,  from  Finance. 
All  four  were  disliked  by  the  Patriot  parly, 
who  could  not  forgive  them  the  part  they  had 
taken  in  the  Revolution  of  the   L2th  of  June,  17(,)S. 


A    CRISIS  IN  HOLLAND.  293 

Yet  they  were  men  of  worth ;  Gogel,  especially, 
was  distinguished  as  a  financier,  and  was  believed  to 
be  perfectly  conversant  with  the  resources  of  Hol- 
land. It  was  easy  to  see  by  this  action  on  the  part 
of  the  Executive  Directory  in  Paris  that,  since  the 
30th  Prairial,  and  the  expulsion  of  Merlin,  Treilhard 
and  Lareveillere-Lepaux,  the  Government,  led  by 
the  new  Jacobins  of  the  Riding-School  Club,  leaned 
exclusively  on  the  extreme  Patriot  party,  and  wished 
to  establish  it  also  in  the  Dutch  Republic,  by 
undoing  what  had  been  accomplished  on  the  12th 
of  June,  1798.  Daendels,  who  at  this  period  was 
at  the  Hague,  had  lost  all  his  influence,  and  Brune 
gave  him  no  chance  of  regaining  it. 

Thus  everything  announced  a  fresh  political 
crisis  in  Holland ;  and  tin's  would  inevitably  have 
occurred,  with  the  help  of  Brune,  if  the  events 
then  taking  place  in  Paris,  which  were  far  from 
being  suspected  at  the  Hague,  had  not  forestalled 
a  third  revolution. 


294      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  news  of  the  Kevolution  of  18th  and  19th  Brumaire  reaches 
the  Hague — The  Author,  who  is  summoned  to  Paris  to  fill 
the  office  of  Secretary-General  to  the  Ministry  of  War,  leaves 
the  Hague — The  physiognomy  of  Paris — Narrative  of  the 
events  of  Brumaire — Interview  of  the  Author  with  Bona- 
parte— Sieyes'  plan  for  a  Constitution  is  rejected — The 
Constitution  of  year  VIII.  is  adopted — The  Author  is 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Tribunate — The  nature  of  that 
Institution — A  spirit  of  opposition  within  it  is  developed 
at  an  inopportune  moment — Papid  increase  of  the  authority 
and  power  of  the  First  Consul,  who  adopts  monarchical 
forms  more  and  more  decidedly — Rumours  of  conspira- 
cies servo  as  a  pretext  for  arbitrary  measures — Fouche 
and  Lucien  Bonaparte  quarrel  violently  in  the  presence  of 
the  First  Consul — The  system  of  fusion  of  parties  carried 
out  with  success  by  the  First  Consul. 

On  the  25th  Yendemiaire  (October  15)  we  learned 
that  Bonaparte  had  landed  on  the  16th  of  the 
same  month.  From  what  I  knew  of  the  proceed- 
rags  of  his  brothers  the  news  did  not  surprise  me. 
I  was  calculating  the  chances  that  tins  unexpected 
event  might  bring  about  a  great  change  for  the 
nation.    Neither  news  nor  letter,  however,  came  from 


BONAPARTE'S  LETTER.  295 

Paris  to  enlighten  us,  and  the  Dutch  Directory  was, 
or  at  least  appeared  to  be,  in  a  similar  state  of 
ignorance.  Brnne  only  had  received  a  letter  from 
Bonaparte,  which  he  showed  us.  In  that  letter  the 
General  congratulated  himself  on  having  "  again 
found  one  of  his  lieutenants  at  the  head  of  a  victo- 
irous  army."  This  expression  had  greatly  incensed 
Brune  ;  and  indeed  what  more  could  Caesar  have 
said?  If  we  had  already  a  Caesar  in  our  Republic, 
it  was  in  a  bad  way.  Nothing,  however,  had  yet 
transpired,  and  every  day  I  became  more  astonished 
at  the  inexplicable  calm.  At  last,  on  the  22nd 
Brumaire  (November  13),  at  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  we  received  a  visit  from  the  President 
of  the  Dutch  Directory.  A  courier  had  arrived 
during  the  night,  bringing  him  the  news  of  the 
events  of  the  18th  and  10th  Brumaire.  But  the 
slight  information  that  the  newspapers  afforded  us, 
being  only  up  to  the  date  of  the  19th  Brumaire,  the 
reserve  of  the  President,  who  was  afraid  of  com- 
mitting himself,  prevented  us  from  forming  an 
opinion  as  to  the  nature  of  these  events,  and  we 
did  not  know  whether  to  rejoice  or  fear.  All  I 
could  perceive  clearly  was  that  Bonaparte  was 
becoming  the  arbiter  of  the  destiny  of  France,  and 
that  if  he  rescued  her  from  the  anarchy  and  degrada- 
tion into  which  the  Directory  and  the  Legislative 
Councils    had    plunged    her,    it   was    to   be    feared, 


296       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


judging  from  what  I  knew  of  him,  that  he  would 
make  her  pay  for  that  service  at  the  price  of  her 
liberty. 

The  President  who  brought  us  this  news,  was, 
it  was  easy  to  see,  notwithstanding  all  his  caution, 
well  satisfied  with  a  movement  which,  by  placing 
Bonaparte  at  the  head  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment, saved  the  Dutch  Republic  from  danger. 
Brune,  on  the  contrary,  whom  we  saw  afterwards, 
was  evidently  uneasy ;  and  in  the  uncertainty  as 
to  which  party  would  triumph,  he  thought  it  well 
to  be  prepared  to  join  one  side  or  the  other  with 
his  army,  and  gave  immediate  orders  to  stop 
the  march  of  some  demi-brigades  which,  as  they 
were  no  longer  necessary  since  the  embarkation  of 
the  English,  were  about  to  return  to  France.  But 
this  notion  of  opposition  to  Bonaparte  did  not  last 
long.  A  revolution  which  placed  political  power 
in  the  hands  of  the  military  suited  the  Generals 
too  well  to  be  opposed  by  them ; — a  few  days  later 
Brune  wisely  declared  his  adherence  to  Bonaparte, 
and  thenceforth  served  him  honestly. 

We  passed  the  21)1(1  Ihmnaire  in  great  anxiety.  At 
last,  in  the  evening,  full  particulars  arrived,  and  the 
fust  impression  J  received  from  them  was,  I  admit, 
a  very  painful  one.  The  Legislative  Body  had  been 
ignoniiniously  dismissed,  ihe  Constitution  of  year 
III.  eomplelely  upset,  and  liberty  seriously  imperilled. 


BERTHIER   SUMMONS   THE  AUTHOR.  297 

The  names  of  those  who  had  been  actors  in  this 
Revolution,  or  who  had  been  privy  to  it,  and  whose 
principles  were  known  to  rne,  were,  however,  re- 
assuring ;  I  could  not  believe  that  such  men  would 
lend  their  aid  to  one  who  avowed  himself  inimical 
to  those  principles.  I  was  therefore  in  the  state  of 
restlessness  which  is  always  produced  by  events  not 
thoroughly  understood,  when  I  received  despatches 
from  General  Berthier,  who  had  just  been  appointed 
Minister  of  War,  and  who  sent  for  me  to  fill  the  very 
place  of  Secretary-General  which  the  Patriot  Berna- 
dotte  had  refused  to  give  me  a  few  months  previously. 
I  soon  made  up  my  mind  to  accept  the  offer,  although 
as  yet  I  was  unable  to  form  an  exact  idea  of  what  had 
taken  place,  or  to  judge  of  it  with  coolness.  Brune 
gave  me  a  letter  for  Berthier,  and  said  sufficient  to 
let  me  see  that  he  had  relinquished  his  warlike 
projects.  I  saw  M.  Van  Hoff,  the  President  of 
the  Dutch  Directory.  He  had  great  hopes  in  the 
new  order  of  things  now  in  preparation,  and 
flattered  himself  that  he  should  be  rid  both  of  Brune 
and  Deforgues,  whom  he  disliked  equally.  I  also 
paid  a  visit  to  M.  Van  der  Goes,  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  against  whom  the  French  Government  was 
strongly  prejudiced,  and  on  whose  dismissal  it 
imperatively  insisted.  Van  der  Goes  complained 
with  great  moderation  of  the  unjust  persecution  he 
had  suffered,  and  at  the  same  time  showed  no  anxiety 


208       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

respecting  its  result.  Nothing  could  have  happened 
more  opportunely  for  the  Dutch  Government  than  the 
18th  Brumaire,*  and  he  was  quite  aware  of  this. 
Deforgues,  on  the  contrary,  was  grieved  at  my  de- 
parture, and  very  anxious  about  his  own  future 
prospects.  His  anxiety  was  not  unfounded,  for 
shortly  afterwards  he  was  recalled  from  the  Hague, 
and  succeeded  by  Se'monville. 

I  began  my  homeward  journey  on  the  20th 
Brumaire  (November  17),  and  left  Holland  re- 
gretting that  I  had  been  unable  to  acquire  a  more 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  country.  The  short 
term  of  my  second  stay  in  Holland  had  con- 
firmed me  in  the  opinion  I  had  formed  of  the  moral 
excellence  of  its  inhabitants,  and  of  the  domestic 
virtues  generally  prevailing  there.  I  had  beheld 
with  regret  the  conduct  of  the  French  Government 
towards  a  nation  which  offered  it  such  valuable  re- 
sources, and  whose  good-will  it  would  have  been 
quite  possible  to  gain.  But  we  had  delivered  it  over 
to  schemers,  harshly  subjected  it  to  military  authority, 
and  had  made  ourselves  hated.  It  was  only  force 
that  held  Holland  to  France,  no  other  point  of 
contact  had  been  touched.  The  Paris  Directory, 
which     had    despotically   oppressed    Holland,   was  no 

■  Tlir  I'.Mh  liniiiuiiic,  mtlier,  for  it  was  on  thai  day  only  that 
the  Revolution  took  place.  Nothing  derisive  occurred  <>n  iho 
previous  day. 


AFTEB    THE  1STH  BRTJMAIRE.  299 

longer  in  existence,  and  her  greatest  enemy  was 
overthrown  ;  was  she  destined  to  be  happier  and 
more  independent  under  the  new  power  which  had 
just  arisen  in  France  ?  The  lapse  of  time  has 
answered  that  question  in  the  negative. 

I  was  impatient  for  fuller  information,  and  I 
hastened  on  to  Paris  as  quickly  as  possible.  I  ar- 
rived there  on  the  1st  Frimaire  (November  22). 
The  capital  seemed  very  quiet ;  satisfaction  and 
hope  were  expressed  in  every  countenance ;  great 
things  were  expected  of  the  newly-accomplished 
Revolution.  But  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  very 
different  versions  were  given,  not  only  of  the  causes 
of  that  revolution,  but  even  of  its  events.  I  made 
great  efforts  to  solve  the  mystery  that  seemed  to 
envelope  the  facts.  A  knowledge  of  these  things 
was  indispensable,  both  to  put  an  end  to  my  state 
of  uncertainty  and  for  the  ordering  of  my  own 
conduct.  My  friend  Gallois  rendered  me  a  great 
service  in  this  uncertainty.  He  was  an  eye-witness 
of  the  events,  and  being  a  profound  and  unpre- 
judiced observer,  he  was  peculiarly  fitted  to  appre- 
ciate them.  I  will  therefore  give  his  own  narrative, 
which  is  indisputably  accurate  and  perfectly  im- 
partial. 

On  Bonaparte's  arrival  in  France,  he  desired 
to  protect  himself  from  the  risks  of  a  state  of  in- 
action such  as  had  subsisted  during  his  former  stay 


300      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

in  Paris,  before  his  departure  for  Egypt.  He  found 
the  conjuncture  favourable  to  his  wishes.  The 
Directory,  so  to  speak,  no  longer  existed.  The  unfit 
and  unknown  men  who  had  been  appointed  to  it  after 
the  30th  Prairial  inspired  neither  respect  nor  fear. 
Barras,  who  was  now  irretrievably  discredited, 
was  concluding  a  reign  usurped  too  long.  Sieyes, 
only,  had  still  a  party,  but  he  was  eager  to  secure 
the  adoption  of  his  own  plan  of  a  Constitution, 
and  ardently  desired  a  revolution  which  would  allow 
him  to  bring  his  composition  to  light.  Talleyrand 
undertook  to  bring  together  the  two  men,  who,  with 
very  different  ends  in  view,  were  yet  agreed  on  that 
one  point,  the  overthrow  of  the  existing  order  of 
things.  To  Bonaparte  he  said  "  You  want  power, 
and  Sieyes  wants  a  new  Constitution  ;  unite  together 
to  destroy  that  which  now  exists,  since  it  is  an 
obstacle  to  both  of  you."  He  said  to  Sie'yes,  "You 
wish  to  put  your  theories  in  practice,  and  all  that 
Bonaparte  wants  is  a  guarantee  against  the 
Jacobins,  and  a  post  in  which  he  will  be  safe  from 
their  attacks.  Join  him  then;  he  will  give  you  the 
practical  means  you  require,  and  you  will  ensure 
1 1 in i  the  place  he  is  seeking." 

The  ice  being  broken,  a  Committee  was  formed, 
consisting  of  Bonaparte,  Sieyes,  Talleyrand, 
Roederer,  Cabanis,  Lucien  Bonaparte,  and  Regnier 
of  the  Council  of  the  Ancients.     In   this  Committee 


THE  FACTS   OF  THE  BEVOLUTION.  301 

the  elements  of  the  Revolution  of  Brumaire  were 
discussed  and  arranged.  When  the  first  steps  had 
been  agreed  upon,  a  few  persons  were  admitted  to 
confidence ;  among  these  were  Volney  and  Boulay 
(de  la  Meurthe).  It  was  decided  next,  that  the 
Commission  of  Inspectors  of  the  Council  of  the 
Ancients  should  be  informed  of  the  resolutions  that 
had  been  come  to.  But  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the 
latter  were  not  entrusted  witli  the  secret  of  the  plan 
in  its  entirety ;  they  were  spoken  to  only  of  the 
necessity  of  crushing  the  Jacobins,  who  were  be- 
coming more  dangerous  every  day,  and  that  they 
consented  solely  in  view  of  this  to  the  project  of 
removing  the  Legislative  Body  out  of  Paris.  The 
same  motive  acted  on  the  Commission  of  Inspectors 
of  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred.  The  real  aim, 
change  of  Constitution,  was  concealed  from  all  those 
who  were  not  comprised  in  the  Committee. 

Every  one  knows  perfectly  well  what  took  place 
on  the  18  th  Brumaire.  The  proposal  to  transfer 
the  Legislative  Body  to  St.  Cloud  was  made  at  the 
Council  of  the  Ancients,  and  was  adopted.  The 
command  of  the  Armed  Force  was  given  to  Bona- 
parte. General  Moreau  consented  to  serve  under 
him.  Other  steps  were  taken,  but  that  day  was,  so 
to  speak,  one  of  preparation  only.  The  following 
day,  the  ]  9th  Brumaire,  was  decisive  and  much 
more  important.     Its  particulars  are  less  well  known, 


302       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

because  it  was  the  interest  of  the  victorious  party  to 
conceal  many  of  them. 

In  accordance  with  a  resolution  taken  on  the  18th 
Brumaire,  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred  was  con- 
voked at  St.  Cloud  on  the  19th.     The  hour  of  meet- 
ing was  nine  in  the  morning.     If  the  Deputies,  who 
arrived  in  the  hired  conveyances  of  the  suburbs  of 
Paris,  had   found    the    place   in    readiness  and  the 
sitting  begun  at  that  hour,  there  is  no  doubt  that, 
having  had  no  opportunity  of  consulting  together, 
they  would  have    agreed   without   difficulty  to   the 
measures  proposed  to  them.     The  chiefs  and  leaders 
of  the  Assembly  would  only  have  had  to  act  on  iso- 
lated individuals,  who,  being  ignorant  of  the  extent 
to  which  measures  had  been  taken  for  forcing  their 
consent  from  them,  would  have  been  alive  only  to 
the  danger  and  uselessness  of  resistance.     But  it  was 
otherwise,  and  through  an  unaccountable  negligence 
nothing    was    ready    at    the    appointed    hour.     The 
Deputies  therefore  dispersed  into  the  gardens,  where 
groups    soon    gathered    together ;     questions    were 
asked  reciprocally;  it  was  asked  what  could  be  the 
motive  of  this  extraordinary  removal,  and  a  report 
soon  spread  that  the  hidden  purpose  of  the  step  was 
to  effect  a  change  in  the  Constitution.     From  that 
moment  every  one  was  alive  to  the  consequences  of 
bo  greal  a  convulsion,  and  the  fear  of  losing  an  easy 
position,  which   would   be    the   inevitable    result  of 


THE  FACTS   OF   THE  BE  VOLUTION.  303 

such  a  movement,  and  which  a  great  number  of 
Deputies  contemplated  with  dismay,  made  all  those 
not  in  the  secret  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  Jacobin 
minority  of  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred. 

In  such  a  disposition  of  men's  minds,  the  aspect 
of  the  Assembly  at  the  opening  of  the  sitting  was 
altogether  different  from  what  had  been  expected. 
Emile  Graudin,  who  appeared  first  at  the  Tribune, 
was  hooted,  and  cries  of  "  Long  live  the  Constitution 
of  year  III.,"  interrupted  his  speech.  Grandmaison, 
one  of  the  most  extreme  members  of  the  Council, 
turned  this  movement  to  account,  and  proposed  to 
verify  the  sentiment  spontaneously  manifested  by 
the  Assembly  by  an  oath  administered  to  each 
member.  The  oath  was  taken  by  every  one  of  the 
members,  including  Lucien  Bonaparte  himself,*  to 
the  great  surprise  of  those  who,  being  in  the  secret 
of  the  plan,  beheld  all  the  hopes  they  had  indulged 
vanish  in  a  moment.  It  was  easy  to  detect  astonish- 
ment and  dismay  in  the  altered  countenances  of 
Maret,  De  Laborie,f  and  others  who  had  hastened  to 
St.  Cloud. 

But  it  was  precisely  the  time  required  for  the 
"  nominal  appeal "  necessary  to  the  taking  of  the 
oath,  that  gave  the  authors  of  the  scheme  an  oppor- 
tunity of  rallying  their  forces.      Under  sucli  circum- 

*  He  was  President  of  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred. 
|  One  of  Talleyrand's  confidants. 


304       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELEE 0. 

stances  a  delay  of  two  hours  was  a  great  chance  for 
them,  and  they  took  advantage  of  it.  Bonaparte 
determined  to  enter  the  Assembly;  hut  scarcely  had 
lie  appeared,  when  furious  cries  of  "  Hors  la  loi  I ' 
were  heard.  "  What  does  this  man  want  ? ':  was 
shouted  on  all  sides ;  "  by  what  right  does  lie  enter 
here  ?  "  These  cries,  and  especially  the  words  "  Hors 
la  loi  I  "  seemed  to  affect  Bonaparte  deeply  ;  he  with- 
drew, pale  and  downcast.  His  retreat  increased  the 
boldnesss  of  the  opposite  party,  which  then  found 
itself  in  a  large  majority,  and  the  minority,  trembling 
and  discouraged,  gave  up  the  contest.  The  most 
violent  motions  were  made  in  succession  and  in- 
stantly carried.  Lucien  Bonaparte,  who  was  obliged 
to  apologise  for  his  brother,  and  to  excuse  him  on  the 
ground  of  the  importance  of  his  past  services,  was 
without  strength  or  ability  to  stem  the  torrent  by 
which  the  Assembly  was  carried  away.  He  was  with- 
drawn from  this  critical  position  by  a  picket  of  grena- 
diers, who  took  him  from  a  committee-room  and 
escorted  him  to  beyond  the  Hall  of  Assembly. 

When  Lucien  reached  the  outer  court  of  the 
Palace,  where  ibc  troops  were  assembled  and  under 
arms,  be  declared  that  force  alone  could  complete 
wlut  had  been  begun,  and  iliat  thev  must  either 
perish  or  employ  thai  last  resource.  II*'  mounted 
bis  horse,  and  vehemently  harangued  the  soldiers, 
denouncing  angrily  "the  daggers  lifted  against  his 


LUCIEN'S  IIARANGUE.  305 

brother,"  *  then,  taking  advantage  of  the  momentary 
enthusiasm  he  had  kindled,  he  ordered  a  battalion 
of  grenadiers  to  follow  Murat  into  the  Assembly. 
The  soldiers  charged,  dispersed  the  Assembly  in 
an  instant,  and  drove  out  the  Deputies.  Incom- 
moded by  their  "togas,"  and  holding  their  classic 
headgear  in  their  hand,  the  discomfited  Deputies 
dispersed  into  the  woods,  where  many  of  them, 
in  order  to  escape  the  pursuit  of  the  soldiers,  left 
behind  them  those  melancholy  symbols  of  departed 
dignity.  The  spectacle  was  at  once  painful  and 
ridiculous,  an  indelible  affront  which  was  a  signal 
for  a  long-lasting  annihilation  of  any  true  repre- 
sentation of  the  nation. 

The  troops  who  had  been  engaged  in  these  pro- 
ceedings left  a  picket  of  fifty  men  in  the  interior 
of  the  Hall,  and  returned  to  the  courtyard,  where 
they  were  received  with  applause.  The  appro- 
bation was,  however,  not  unanimous ;  many  of  the 
spectators  regretted  that  applause  should  be  bestowed 
upon  a  deed  which,  while  perhaps  necessary  to  pre- 
vent greater  evils,  was  repugnant  to  every  lover 
of  liberty.  Some  field-officers  even  expressed  their 
displeasure,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  soldiers  would 
have  refused  to  obey. 

*  This  was  a  figure  of  speech.  It  has  since  heen  represented 
as  a  reality,  and  an  assertion  has  heen  made  that  a  Corsican 
who  happened  to  he  at  St.  Cloud  turned  aside  the  stroke 
intended  for  Bonaparte. 

VOL.    J.  X 


306       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

The  victory  was  now  won,  and  the  business  of 
the  moment  was  to  profit  by  it.  The  mistake  of 
supposing  that  by  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  the 
Council  of  the  Five  Hundred  an  appearance  of 
legality  could  be  given  to  the  purposed  changes, 
and  the  errors  of  detail  that  had  been  committed, 
had  thrown  everything  out  of  gear,  by  rendering 
the  substitution  of  force  for  the  ordinary  progress 
of  a  debate  necessary.  In  truth,  there  existed  now 
only  a  usurper,  and  that  usurper  was  Bonaparte. 
How  would  he  be  looked  upon  by  France  ?  To 
what  danger  would  he  not  be  exposed  by  that 
odious  appellation  ? 

In  the  midst  of  the  general  confusion  and  uncer- 
tainty, it  occurred  to  Joseph  Bonaparte  to  assemble 
the  remains  of  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hun- 
dred, and,  with  the  aid  of  that  mutilated  body, 
to  carry  out  the  measures  which  they  had  in- 
tended to  adopt  in  the  complete  Assembly  in  the 
morning.  At  nine  in  the  evening  about  fifty 
members  of  the  Five  Hundred  assembled;  this 
fraction  was  called  the  majority  of  the  Council. 
Tlie  same  thing  was  done  with  respect  to  the 
Council  of  Ancients,  and  that  mutilated  Assembly 
passed  the  decrees,  that  were  published  the  next 
day,  for  the  suppression  of  the  Councils,  the  abo- 
lition of  the  Directory,  and  the  creation  of  three 
( lonsuls. 


THE   TRUE  AND    THE  FALSE  ACCOUNT.        307 

When  we  compare  this  account  with  those  con- 
tained in  the  Moniteur  and  the  newspapers  of  the  day, 
we  see  how  the  truth  was  distorted  in  official  publi- 
cations, and  we  also  understand  the  motives  of  that 
distortion.  We  are  struck,  above  all,  with  the 
small  share  taken  by  Bonaparte  in  the  events  of 
a  day  which  founded  his  immense  power.  Although 
the  truth  was  known  to  numerous  eye-witnesses,  and 
suspected  by  many  others,  by  the  time  of  my  arrival 
in  Paris  success  had  justified  the  means.  The 
contempt  into  which  the  Directory  had  sunk,  the 
fear  of  falling  once  more  under  the  rule  of  the 
Jacobins,  the  hopes  awakened  by  Bonaparte's  talents 
and  the  fame  he  had  acquired,  rendered  the  Pa- 
risians very  indulgent  to  the  means  which  had 
brought  about  a  result  from  which  increased  happi- 
ness and  increased  glory  were  alike  expected.  Thus 
I  found  all  the  lovers  of  their  country  rallying 
round  Bonaparte  ;  crowds  flocked  to  the  Luxemburg 
where  he  resided ;  he  was  looked  upon  as  the 
well-spring  of  wealth  and  honours,  and  every  one 
tried  to  approach  him. 

I  saw  Bonaparte  on  4th  Frimaire  (Nov.  25). 
He  embraced  me  cordially,  and  received  me  with 
the  same  affection  he  had  formerly  shown  me.  I 
thought  his  tone  in  conversation  firmer  and  fuller 
than  before.  His  naturally  strong  mind  had  gained 
in  vigour  under  the  strain  of  the  perilous  expedition 

X  2 


308       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

to  Egypt,  and  he  was  full  of  courage.  As  he  knew 
my  opinions,  he  expressed  a  firm  determination  to 
respect  public  liberty,  but  at  the  same  time  he  in- 
sisted on  the  necessity  of  creating  a  stronger  magis- 
tracy than  that  which  had  just  been  overthrown, 
and  inclined  towards  all  that  tended  to  centralise 
authority.  His  manners  were  less  abrupt,  and 
he  cultivated  a  more  graceful  method  of  speech, 
but  his  impatient  nature  still  made  itself  felt 
throughout. 

Our  conversation  turned  almost  wholly  on  the 
new  scheme  of  a  Constitution  then  occupying  the 
Commission,  which  consisted  of  a  certain  number  of 
the  members  of  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred 
and  of  the  Ancients.  It  seemed  to  me  that  he  was 
far  from  satisfied  with  the  progress  of  the  delibera- 
tions. He  considered  that  the  part  assigned  to 
liim  in  the  Government  was  not  adequate,  and  he 
had  resolved  to  impart  another  direction  to  the 
labours  of  the  (  Ymnnission. 

I  heard  a  few  days  afterwards  that  the  scheme 
of  a  Constitution  as  evolved  by  Sieves  had  not  met 
with  the  success  expected  by  its  author.  But  tin's 
check  to  liis  vanity  received  ample  compensation 
in  the  riches  with  which  he  was  loaded.  In  the 
distribution  of  a  sum  of  600,000  francs  (£24,000) 
that  was  found  in  the  treasury  of  the  Directory 
a1    the    moment   of   its    overthrow,  Sieves   received 


SIEYES'   SCHE3IE.  309 

350,000*  (£14,000),  and  Bonaparte,  in  addition, 
made  him  a  present  of  the  estate  of  Crone. f  He 
found  consolation  in  the  price  paid  him  for  the 
mutilation  of  his  scheme,  of  which,  nevertheless,  I 
will  here  subjoin  a  sketch,  procured  for  me  at  the 
time  by  Regnault  cle  St.  Jean-d'Angely.  It  contains 
some  ideas  worth  noting. 

Five  authorities  govern  the  Republic  : — 

1.  The  Legislative  Authority, 

2.  The  Governing  Authority, 

3.  The  Executive  Authoritv, 

4.  The  Administrative  Authority,  and 

5.  The  Judicial  Authority. 

I.    The  Legislative  Authority. 

To  compose  the  Legislative  Authority,  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Republic  is  supposed  to  be  divided  into 
large    Communes.  J     One-tenth    of  their    population 

*  This  sum  was  distributed  as  follows :  To  Sieyes,  350,000 
francs;  to  Poger  Ducos,  150,000  francs;  and  to  Lagarde, 
Secretary-General,  100,000  francs. 

f  On  this  subject  the  poet  Lebrun  made  the  following- 
epigram  : 

"  Sieyes  a  Bonaparte  avait  promis  un  trone, 
Sous  ses  debris  brillants  voulant  l'ensevelir ; 
Bonaparte  a  Sieyes  a  fait  present  de  Crone 
Pour  le  payer  et  l'avilir." 

|  These  Communes  were  much  the  same  as  the  Sub-Prefec- 
tures have  since  been. 


310       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

forms  the  body  of  Communal  Notables.  From 
among  these  the  Communal  Administrators  are 
chosen. 

Four  of  these  Communes  form  a  Department.  The 
tenth  of  the  Notables  of  four  united  Communes 
form  the  Notables  of  the  Department.  From  among 
these  the  Administrators  of  the  Department  are 
taken.  Lastly,  the  Notables  of  the  Departments, 
gathered  together  and  reduced  to  a  tenth,  furnish 
the  Notables  of  the  nation.  They  elect  the  Legis- 
lative Power  from  among  the  Notables  only. 

The  Legislative  Power  is  composed  of  two 
Chambers,  one  called  the  Senate,  the  other  the 
Tribunate. 

Neither  of  the  two  Chambers  debates.  When 
the  Consuls  propose  a  law,  they  may  send  to  the 
Tribunate  three  of  their  State  Councillors,  who 
discuss  the  project  in  presence  of  the  Assembly, 
with  three  Tribunes  previously  appointed  by  the 
Assembly.  After  the  discussion,  the  Tribunate  pro- 
nounces. The  law  is  then  sent  up  to  the  Senate, 
before  whom  it  is  again  discussed  by  the  three 
Councillors  of  Stale  and  the  three  Tribunes.  The 
Senate  by  secret  ballot  accepts  or  rejects  the  proposed 
law. 


SIEYES'  SCHEME.  311 

II.   The  Governing  Authority. 

The  Governing  Authority  is  composed  of  two 
Consuls,  one  for  the  Interior,  the  other  for  the 
Exterior.  They  have  a  Council  of  State,  whose 
members  they  appoint. 

The  Interior  comprises  everything  connected  with 
the  administration  of  the  country ;  finance,  taxes, 
trade,  public  instruction,  economy,  &c. 

The  Exterior  comprises  the  army,  the  navy,  and 
political  matters. 

The  Consuls  are  appointed  by  a  Magistrate  called 
the  Grand  Elector,  who  may  dismiss  them  at 
pleasure. 

The  Grand  Elector  has  no  other  action  upon  the 
Government  than  the  appointment  and  dismissal  of 
the  Consuls.  But  he  is  surrounded  with  great 
splendour.  He  is  the  head  of  a  body  of  magistrates 
known  by  the  name  of  Conservators,  and  is  appointed 
by  them,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter. 

These  Conservators,  a  hundred  in  number,  are 
chosen  from  the  wealthiest  classes  of  society.  Each 
must  have  an  income  of  100,000  francs  (£4000) 
drawn  from  a  landed  estate.  They  have  a  guard 
and  great  honorary  rights. 

Among  the  hundred  Conservators,  twenty  places 
are  to  be  kept  vacant.  They  are  intended  as  the 
means  of  withdrawing  from  the  Tribunate  and  the 


312      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


Senate  any  individual  who  either  by  his  ambition 
or  his  talent  might  be  dangerous  to  liberty,  and 
likely  to  overthrow  the  order  of  tilings.  Those 
members  of  the  two  Chambers,  who  might  thus  by 
a  kind  of  ostracism  be  called  into  the  body  of  Con- 
servators may  refuse  to  join  it,  but  they  are  allowed 
no  other  alternative ;  from  that  moment  their  legis- 
lative functions  have  ceased. 

The  Grand  Elector  is  appointed  for  life.  He  is 
balloted  for  by  the  Conservators. 

Six  ballots  are  taken  during  the  first  year,  inde- 
pendently of  that  one  which  will  have  brought  about 
the  first  nomination.  These  six  ballots  are  secret, 
and  deposited  in  a  closed  urn.  Every  year  the 
body  of  Conservators  will  hold  a  fresh  ballot,  and 
one  of  the  former  ballots  will  be  annulled,  so  that 
there  will  never  be  more  than  six.  These  six  ballots 
in  constant  existence  serve  for  the  nomination  of 
a  new  Grand  Elector  in  case  of  death,  or  in  case 
he  should  be  recalled  to  the  rank  of  a  simple 
Conservator,  by  the  joint  will  of  the  body  of 
( Vtnservators. 

III.     Tin     l-li>cnlirf    Authority. 

The  Executive  Authority  is  entrusted  to  the 
Ministers  of  Hie  Interim-  and  of  the  Exterior,  de- 
pendent on   the  Consuls  of  the   Interior  and   of  the 

'•i  KM-. 


SIEYES'  SCHEME.  313 

There  are  six  Ministers  of  the  Interior  and  four  of 
the  Exterior. 

For  the  Interior :  Ministers  of  Justice,  of  Police, 
of  Finance,  of  the  Public  Treasury,  of  Internal  Ad- 
ministration and  Public  Works,  and  of  Commerce. 

For  the  Exterior :  Ministers  of  War,  of  the  Navy, 
of  Exterior  Relations,  and  of  the  Colonies.  Under 
the  latter  heading  are  comprised  not  only  the 
Colonies  properly  so  called,  but  conquered  territories, 
and  the  Departments  as  a  whole.  Each  Minister 
has  a  special  delegate  in  each  Department. 

IV.    The  Administrative  Authority. 

The  Administrative  Authority  comprises  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  Departments,  the  Communes,  and 
the  Municipalities.  It  regulates  the  distribution  and 
the  collection  of  the  public  taxes. 

V.   The  Judicial  Authority. 
The  Tribunals  and  Courts  of  Justice  .... 

Such  was  the  scheme  presented  by  Sieycs  to  the 
Commission  entrusted  with  the  task  of  drawing  up 
a  new  Constitution.  It  was  easy  to  predict  its  fate. 
It  is  a  metaphysical  day-dream,  a  sort  of  machine 
ready  wound  up,  which  supposes  in  mankind  an 
entire  absence  of  passions  and  will.  How  can  we 
conceive  of  a  Grand  Elector  contenting  himself  with 


314      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

the  simple  part  assigned  to  him,  concerning  himself 
not  at  all  in  public  administration,  and  of  two 
Consuls  who  might  be  dismissed  by  a  magistrate 
necessarily  incapable  of  judging  of  their  conduct 
and  their  intentions,  since  he  was  never  to  be 
allowed  to  know  them  ?  The  six  urns  containing 
the  votes,  of  which  a  portion  was  each  year  to  be 
annulled  and  renewed  in  order  to  avoid  the  intro- 
duction of  the  hereditary  principle  or  the  intrigues 
of  an  election,  were  but  a  way  of  evading  the  diffi- 
culty without  solving  it,  and  had,  moreover,  the 
grave  disadvantage  of  being  open  to  ridicule — and  in 
France  nothing  can  stand  against  ridicule. 

The  practical  impossibility  of  this  scheme  struck 
every  one.  Bonaparte,  who  was  destined  for  the 
post  of  Grand  Elector,  was  not  the  man  to  content 
himself  with  such  a  part.  That  of  Consul  would 
bave  suited  him  no  better.  Never  would  he  have 
consented  to  depend  on  the  will  or  the  caprice  of 
another.  He  craved  for  real  power,  not  its  outward 
show;  lie  knew  well  that  were  authority  once  in 
his   hands,    the    outward  show    would    not    lono-    be 


'.-i 


wanting. 

So  soon  as  the  rejection  of  Sieves'  plan  was 
decided  upon,  it  became  necessary  to  substitute 
another  in  iis  place,  and  the  Constitution  of  the 
year  VIJI.,  as  it  was  called,  was  adopted.  But  it 
was  unfortunate  that  the  Commissioners  worked  on 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF   YEAR    VIII.  315 

the  canvas  of  Sieves.  Their  labours  bore  in  every 
part  the  impress  of  the  original  design  and  of  the 
influence  exercised  over  them  by  the  victor  of  the 
18th  Brumaire.  A  First  Consul  was  substituted  for 
the  Grand  Elector,  a  Senate  for  the  Bodv  of  Con- 
servators,  and  the  worst  part  of  the  scheme,  that 
which  condemned  the  Legislative  Body  to  absolute 
silence,  was  retained.  From  this  fatal  device  may 
be  dated  the  overthrow  of  those  barriers  which  might 
have  saved  France  from  invasion  by  despotism. 

The  shallowness  of  the  French  character  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  the  fear  of  again 
falling  under  the  yoke  of  the  Jacobins,  from 
which  the  new  "  social  act "  and  the  well-known 
character  of  Bonaparte  guaranteed  the  nation, 
caused  this  Constitution,  however  imperfect  and 
however  dangerous  to  public  liberty,  to  be 
adopted  with  joyful  eagerness.  It  was  debated, 
resolved  on,  and  presented  for  the  sanction  of  the 
people  in  less  than  six  weeks,  and  in  Nivose, 
year  VIII.  (January  1800),  all  the  new  institu- 
tions were  at  work.  Bonaparte,  First  Consul, 
was  residing  with  Lebrun,  Third  Consul,  at  the 
Tuileries ;  and  Cambaceres,  Second  Consul,  was  occu- 
pying a  house  on  the  Place  du  Carrousel. 

The  establishment  of  the  Constitution  of  year  VIII. 
opened  a  new  career  to  me.  After  having  for  two 
months  filled  the  place  of  Secretary-General  for  War, 


316      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

I  was  appoined  a  member  of  the  Tribunate,  and  was 
present  at  the  first  sitting  of  that  body,  which  took 
place  on  the  11th  Nivose  (January  1). 

The  Tribunate  was  the  sole  guarantee  of  public 
liberty,    and    it    had    escaped    almost    miraculously 
from  the  sweeping  reduction  of  the  representative 
system.     It  was  the  organised  opposition,  and  the 
lawful    adversary    of    the    Government.      But   the 
more     this     opposition     might,    in     time,    become 
tutelary,  the  more  did  it  need  prudence  and  mode- 
ration   to   gain    the    public    confidence.      Now,    at 
the   time    of    the    establishment   of    the    Tribunate, 
the    nation    was    weary   of   deliberative   assemblies, 
of    tribunal    discourses   and    discussions,    and    eager 
for    a   strong  government.      A    powerful    one    was 
indeed   necessary  to  hold  in  check  the  monarchical 
party,   which    had    not   been  entirely  destroyed  by 
the    18th  Fructidor,  and  the   Jacobin   party,   which 
had  revived  a  few  months  before  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Riding-School  Club,  and  those  of  Bernadotte 
and  Jourdan.*     Public  opinion  was  then  clearly  in 
favour  of  the  Government;    the  Opposition   would 
;it    first  be  looked  upon   as  serving  the  one  or  the 
other   of  these  two  parties,   and    not   as  a    whole- 
General  Jourdan,  as  a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Five 
Hundred,  had  ial<<n  a  wry  aeiivo  part  <>n   (lie   l.'.th   Prairial, 
when  ihree   members  of  the    Directory  had   been   set,  aside,  and 
tic  had  also  o])]n .scil  the  IStli  I'.i  uina i n-.     He  was  among  those 
members  of  the  Council  struck  out  on  die  I'.Mh  Brumaire. 


THE   TB  IB  UN  ATE.  317 

some  tempering  of  the  governing'  power  and  its 
excesses.  But  the  Tribunate,  although  it  comprised 
many  very  enlightened  and  well-meaning  men,  had 
not  been  so  composed  that  it  could  adopt  that  prudent 
and  premeditated  course  of  action  which  alone  could 
lead  to  this  desirable  end,  The  greater  number  of 
the  members  had  been  taken  from  the  Councils  of 
the  Ancients  and  of  the  Five  Hundred,*  and  the 
remembrance  of  the  day  of  Saint-Cloud,  and  of  the 
injury  sustained  by  the  national  representatives,  was 
still  fresh  in  their  minds,  and  turned  them  naturally 
against  the  author  of  those  insults.  Among  the 
new  members  (and  I  designate  under  that  name 
those  who,  like  myself,  had  not  belonged  to  any 
Legislative  Assembly)  there  was  a  desire  for  dis- 
tinction and  fame,  and  this  led  some  of  them  astray ; 
nevertheless,  moderate  ideas  generally  prevailed,  and 
wise  men  recognised  the  danger  of  beginning  by  a 
contest  with  the  Government,  in  which  the  public 
would  have  sided  with  the  latter.  They  felt  that 
time  alone  could  strengthen  the  Tribunate,  and  that 
it  wras  only  by  remaining  silent  for  the  present  that 
they  could  one  day  acquire  the  right  to  speak,  and 
to  make  themselves  heard. 

No  efforts  of  the  moderate  party  of  the  Tribunate 

:"  Out  of  one  hundred  members  of  the  Tribunal,  no  less  than 
sixty -nine  had  belonged  to  one  or  the  other  of  these  two 
Councils. 


318      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


could,  however,  prevent  the  blunders  which  signa- 
lised the  opening  of  its  political  career.  At  the 
first  sitting,  Duveyrier  made  a  speech  in  which 
he  invited  the  Assembly  to  remember  the  locality 
in  which  it  was  sitting,*  and  reminded  it  that 
within  those  very  walls  the  Revolution  had  first 
seen  the  light ;  he  besought  it  to  draw  from  that 
recollection  the  energy  requisite  to  oppose  Tyranny, 
should  it  again  raise  its  head.  This  invocation, 
which  seemed  to  justify  the  excesses  of  1780,  and 
to  forebode  others,  was  ill-received,  and  excited  sus- 
picions as  to  the  spirit  which  the  Tribunate  might 
develop  ;  and  the  attack,  which  was  inconsiderate 
rather  than  dangerous,  was  speedily  followed  by  a 
more  serious  one,  by  which  the  Government  seemed 
to  be  much  more  alarmed.  The  Consuls  had  just 
sent  up  to  the  Tribunate  the  project  of  law  for 
the  regulation  of  the  relations  between  them  and 
the  Legislative  Body,  with  regard  to  the  mode  of 
presentation  of  projects  of  law,  and  the  time  to  be 
accorded  to  the  Tribunate  for  pronouncing  its  re- 
jection or  adoption  of  them. 

The  Commissioners  to  whom  the  enquiry  into  lliis 
proposition  bad  been  entrusted,  and  of  whom  I  was 
one,  were  in  favour  of  ils  adoption,  although  we 
had  perceived  thai  the  Government  reserved  to  itself 

*  The  Palaia  Royal,  which  then  toot  the  name  of  Palais  du 
Tribunal. 


BENJAMIN  CONSTANT.  319 

certain  advantages  which  tended  to  augment  its  own 
influence.  But,  on  the  one  hand,  the  objection  to 
conferring  on  the  Tribunate  the  monstrous  privilege 
of  paralysing  every  political  measure,  by  allowing  it 
to  defer  deliberation  on  projects  of  law  at  its  plea- 
sure, and  on  the  other,  the  necessity  of  deciding  as 
soon  as  possible  a  difficult  point  which  ought  to 
be  regulated  before  any  other,  had  prevailed  with 
the  Commissioners  and  a  favorable  report  was 
presented. 

A  debate  had  begun  on  this  report,  when,  in 
the  sitting  of  15th  Nivose  (January  5),  Benjamin 
Constant  made  a  speech,  in  which  he  pointed  out  all 
the  defects  of  the  project,  did  not  spare  the  Govern- 
ment with  whom  it  originated,  and  cast  a  portion  of 
the  blame  upon  its  head. 

The  next  day  Rioufife  replied  to  Benjamin 
Constant,  and  went  to  the  opposite  extreme.  His 
speech  contained  a  pompous  panegyric  of  the  First 
Consul,  couched  in  language  so  exaggerated  that  the 
orator  was  interrupted  and  recalled  to  the  question. 
Benjamin  Constant's  attack  and  Riouffe's  clumsy 
defence  greatly  displeased  the  First  Consul,  and 
when  I  saw  him,  on  business,  a  few  days  later,  I 
found  him  very  angry.  I  tried  in  vain  to  a] lay  his 
irritation  by  apologizing  for  Benjamin  Constant, 
whose  remarkable  abilities,  which  might  be  so  useful 
in  public  affairs  and   also  to    the  Government,  de- 


320      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  3IELITO. 


served  consideration.  He  would  not  listen  to  me. 
"My  enemies,"  he  repeated  several  times,  "my 
enemies  deserve  nothing  from  me  but  steel."  And 
in  fact  from  that  moment  he  took  a  dislike  to  the 
celebrated  orator,  whose  fame  was  but  increased  by 
persecution,  and  was  not  reconciled  with  him  until 
fifteen  years  later,  on  returning  from  Elba.  But 
Tiiouffe's  mishap  did  not  injure  him,  and  the  First 
Consul,  by  appointing  him  to  one  of  the  best 
Prefectures  in  France,  that  of  Dijon,  proved  that 
in  the  matter  of  praise,  excess,  even  when  clumsy, 
is   never    an    unpardonable  offence  in   the   eyes    of 


a  great  man. 


Thus  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  Constitution 
of  year  VIII.  germs  of  dissension  between  the  two 
powers  which  were  intended  to  balance  each  other 
Ix-irayed  themselves.  The  Tribunate,  by  its  pre- 
mature attack  on  the  Government,  lost  at  the  onset 
tin'  favour  of  the  public,  who  looked  upon  it  only  as 
the  remnant  of  the  former  Legislative  Assemblies, 
inheriting  some  of  the  same  spirit  which  had  so 
often  misled  those  Assemblies,  and  threatening1  the 
continuation  of  a  revolution  of  which  every  one  was 
sick.  The  Government,  on  the  contrary,  gained  in 
authority  all  thai  its  opponenl  lest.  The  farther  it 
diverged  from  democratic  practices,  the  nearer  it 
approached  to  those  of  a  monarchy,  so  much  ilie 
better  did    ii   please   the  people,  and   so  much    the 


THE  FIBST   CONSUL'S  ENCROACHMENTS.      321 

greater  was  the  influence  it  acquired.  The  First 
Consul,  actuated  by  his  secret  views  and  his  love 
of  power,  was  perfectly  ready  to  take  advantage 
of  the  popular  tendency.  He  diverged  from 
Republican  manners  by  small  degrees,  imper- 
ceptible at  first,  but  becoming  every  day  more 
marked.  From  the  first,  he  had  held  himself  apart 
from  the  other  Consuls.  Many  of  the  acts  of  the 
Government  bore  his  name  only.  Very  soon  the 
palace  in  which  he  dwelt  assumed  a  different  aspect. 
It  had  been  open  at  first  to  all  the  great  public 
officials ;  but  afterwards  access  was  denied  them ; 
formalities  were  required  to  obtain  an  audience  ;  a 
ceremonious  etiquette  was  introduced ;  and  if  there 
were  any  murmurs  at  this,  the  desire  to  gain 
access  to  a  magistrate  who  was  the  source  of  all 
favour,  and  whose  power  increased  daily,  made 
people  submit  to  it  with  a  tolerably  good  grace. 
And  then,  no  sooner  had  the  men  who  lie  in  wait 
for  the  weaknesses  of  governments,  to  turn  them 
to  profit,  perceived  the  First  Consul's  taste  for  show 
and  the  pleasures  of  vanity,  than  they  hastened  to 
applaud  and  encourage  that  taste.  "  Nothing,"  they 
told  him,  "  is  more  congenial  to  the  tastes  of  the 
French,  who  always  like  the  governing  power 
to  be  surrounded  with  pomp  and  splendour. 
The  Revolution  did  violence  to  those  tastes,  but 
it    has    not  eradicated  them,  and   they  will    revive 

VOL.    I.  Y 


322      31EM0IRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


naturally  on  all  sides."  Bonaparte  therefore  found 
us  ready  to  submit  to  these  innovations  ;  we  antici- 
pated his  wishes,  and  so  soon  as  he  desired  to  have  a 
Court,  courtiers  were  forthcoming. 

For  my  own  part,  I  perceived,  even  at  the 
commencement  of  the  new  order  of  things,  that  the 
scene  was  being  shifted.  I  had  hitherto  been  on 
those  familiar  terms  with  the  First  Consul  which 
were  kept  up  by  the  remembrance  of  our  former 
association  in  Italy.  But  this  state  of  things 
did  not  last  long.  I  only  saw  Bonaparte,  thence- 
forth, at  long  intervals,  and  the  sort  of  familiarity 
that  had   subsisted  between   us  gradually  subsided. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that,  absorbed 
in  the  delights  which  the  flexibility  of  the  French 
character  so  easily  accorded  to  him,  he  neglected 
public  business.  His  indefatigable  activity  was 
more  than  ever  apparent.  He  obtained  nearly 
every  law  lie  asked  for,  from  the  Legislative  Body, 
and  the  most  important  one  of  all,  that  which 
abolished  the  administration  of  Departments,  and 
substituted  the  establishment  of  Prefectures,  was 
adopted  <>n  the  report  of  Dannou.*  This  law,  by 
concentrating  tin'  administrative  authority  in  the 
hands  of  Prefects  and  Sub-Prefects  appointed  by 
the  Bead  of  the  Government,  in  reality  destroyed 

*  This  law  dates  from  28th  Pluvidse,  year  VIII.  (February  17, 
It  was  partly  the  work  of  Roederer. 


RUMOURS  OF  CONSPIRACY.  323 

the  Eepublican  system.  Police,  Finance,  and  Ad- 
ministration passed  away  from  the  delegates  of  the 
people,  to  agents  appointed  by  the  Government,  and 
who  might  be  dismissed  at  pleasure.  The  Govern- 
ment must  henceforth  be  served  in  all  things,  by 
all  who  desired  to  retain  brilliant  or  lucrative 
posts.  So  well  has  the  institution  of  Prefectures 
served  the  reigning  power  that  it  has  outlived  all 
others  and  held  its  place  in  every  Government  that 
has  subsisted  since  that  time. 

The  triumphs  of  the  First  Consul  were,  however, 
occasionally  disturbed  by  difficulties  at  home  and 
abroad,  by  rumours  of  conspiracy  and  the  fear  of 
fresh  outbreaks  of  war.  The  apprehension  caused 
by  the  rumours  of  conspiracy  was  more  affected 
than  real ;  yet  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  those 
rumours  were  entirely  unfounded.  Bernadotte  and 
even  Lucien  Bonaparte  were  said  to  be  at  the 
head  of  the  alleged  conspiracy.  The  inordinate 
self-love  of  the  former,  who  through  Joseph  Bona- 
parte's influence  had  been  appointed  Councillor  of 
State,  although  he  had  openly  proclaimed  himself 
against  the  18th  Brumaire,  rendered  it  not  unlikely 
that  he  would  yield  to  the  persuasions  of  the  Jacobins, 
who  always  regarded  him  as  their  staunchest 
supporter.  lie  was  not  dangerous  in  himself,  but 
he  might  become  so  during  a  disturbance,  as  the 
instrument   of  others.     As    for    Lucien   Bonaparte, 

y  2 


324      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

who  was  Minister  of  the  Interior,  it  is  true  that  his 
immoral  policy,  the  absence  of  public  honesty  in  his 
administration,  the  shameful  extortions  and  insa- 
tiable cupidity  of  his  officials,  did  much  injury  to 
his  brother's  government,  but  is  the  story  of  his 
projects  and  his  desire  to  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  malcontents  credible  ?  At  that  time  he  had 
nothing  more  to  wish  for  than  what  he  had  already 
obtained,  and  he  greatly  deceived  himself  if  he 
imagined  that  his  name  alone  would  carry  suffi- 
cient weight  to  enable  him  to  play  an  isolated  part. 

The  rumours  of  conspiracy,  although  there 
was  but  slight  foundation  for  them,  were  used  as 
a  pretext  for  various  arbitrary  measures.  Several 
newspapers,  whose  too  liberal  tone  was  displeasing 
to  the  Government,  were  suppressed.*  Exile  and 
banishment  were  said  to  be  destined  for  such  men 
as  Raisson,  Vatar,  and  others,  who  during  the  Revo- 
lution had  been  remarkable  for  their  opinions, 
and  who  were  regarded  as  the  leaders  of  the  Jacobin 
party.  They  were  ordered  to  leave  Paris.  Madame 
de  Stael  also  was  threatened.  She  was  the  patron 
of  Benjamin  Constant,  who  had  declared  himself  so 
openly  against  the  First  Consul  as  to  involve   his 

The  newspapers  suppressed  on  L8th  Germinal  (April  7), 
and  re-established  since  then,  \vero  three  in  number, — the 
•Journal  des  Bommes  libres,'  the  'Bien  Inlbnuc,'  and  the 
'Journal  des  De*fenseurs  de  la  Patrie.1 


FOUCHE.  325 


friend  in  his  disgrace.  Foucbe',  at  the  head  of  the 
Police,  seconded  with  marvellous  zeal  and  sagacity 
the  tendencies  of  the  Chief  of  the  Government, 
for  whom  he  professed  at  that  time  indefatigable 
and  boundless  devotion ;  and  his  former  friends, 
although  he  privately  protected  them,  were  not  ap- 
parently spared  more  than  the  rest.  An  angry  scene 
took  place  at  this  time  (18th  Germinal)  between 
Foucbe  and  Lucien  Bonaparte,  in  the  presence  of 
the  First  Consul.  The  quarrel  began  by  an  allusion 
to  the  alleged  conspiracy,  sharp  words  were  ex- 
changed, and  Foucbe  went  so  far  as  to  say :  "  I 
would  arrest  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  himself,  if 
I  knew  that  he  was  conspiring."  In  consequence  of 
this  altercation,  which  increased  the  First  Consul's 
confidence  in  Fouche,  the  question  of  removing 
Lucien  from  the  Ministry  was  mooted,  and  his  dis- 
missal was  talked  of  publicly.  But  the  services  he 
had  rendered  on  the  19th  Brumaire  were  still  too 
recent  for  this  extreme  step  to  be  ventured  on.  The 
First  Consul  would  have  been  thought  ungrateful, 
and  the  matter  was  adjourned.  Nevertheless,  the 
differences  between  the  two  brothers,  which  soon 
afterwards  became  manifest,  date  from  that  period, 
and  ended  in  enmit}'  which  kept  them  long  apart, 
and  which  was  scarcely  extinguished  even  by  the  re- 
verses which  afterwards  befell  the  Bonaparte  family. 
It  was  at  this  epoch  also  that  Bonaparte  established 


326       MEMOIES   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

that  system  of  fusion  among  the  various  parties  of 
which  he  availed  himself  so  skilfully,  and  which 
hecame  the  foundation  stone  of  his  power.  With 
the  utmost  sagacity  he  sought  out  men  of  talent, 
whom  he  employed  wheresoever  he  found  them. 
Equally  inimical  to  the  partisans  of  the  ancient 
dynasty,  to  the  Jacobins,  and  even  to  those  who 
afterwards  bore  the  name  of  Liberals,  he  took  all 
his  agents  indifferently  from  among  those  three 
classes.  Prefects,  judges,  administrators,  and  finan- 
ciers, were  all  drawn  from  them.  There  was  great 
discontent.  The  authors  of,  and  actors  in,  the 
events  of  the  18th  Brumaire,  who  thought  they 
had  an  exclusive  right  to  those  appointments,  felt 
injured  at  having  to  divide  them  with  men  whom 
they  had  beaten.  It  was  therefore  with  extreme 
disgust  that  they  saw  M.  Dufrene,  an  avowed 
Royalist,  entrusted  with  the  Public  Treasury,  al- 
though his  honesty  and  ability  justified  the  selection, 
Carnot  placed  at  the  head  of  the  War  Office,  and 
Merlin  (of  Douai)  appointed  Assistant  to  the 
(Jovernment  Commissioner  in  the  Court  of  Appeal. 
The  two  first  appointments  were  indeed  approved 
by  all  impartial  men;  but  the  last  excited  universal 
discontent.  The  appointment  of  the  framer  of  "the 
law  of  llic  Suspected''  to  (unctions  so  high,  and 
which  might  so  greatly  influence  the  honour  and 
the  fortunes,   nay,  oven  Ihe  lives  of  citizens,  justlj 


BONAPARTE'S  INSTBU3IENTS.  327 

alarmed  the  whole  community.*  Other  nominations, 
to  less  important  posts,  gave  as  little  satisfaction, 
and,  to  use  the  expression  of  M.  de  Se'gur,  it  was 
hard  to  reconcile  oneself  to  the  Government's 
"sprinkling  Jacobins  all  over  the  public  service." 
But  the  First  Consul  soared  above  these  timid 
scruples,  and  the  sequel  has  shown  he  was  right, 
so  long  at  least  as  Fortune  was  favourable  to  him. 
He  thus  smoothed  down  all  the  political  asperities 
of  France,  rendered  those  whom  he  selected  from 
each  class  '  suspect '  by  it,  and  so  weakened  them 
all.  Lastly,  by,  as  it  were,  casting  into  the  same 
mould  all  the  men  whom  he  called  to  the  conduct 
of  affairs,  he  made  them  willing  subordinates,  vying 
with  each  other  in  devotion  to  himself,  and  ready 
to  execute,  without  discussion,  all  he  might  require 
of  them  ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  fitted  them  for 
the  service  of  his  own  power  only.  When  authority 
passed  into  other  hands  they  followed  it,  and  be- 
came the  most  docile  instruments  of  the  ruin  of  him 
who  had  indeed  elevated,  but  had  then  so  trained 
them  as  to  destroy  every  noble  sentiment. 

*  It  would  seem  that  gratitude  had  something  to  do  with 
this  appointment.  It  was  Merlin,  a  member  of  the  Directory, 
who,  on  30th  Prairial,  year  VII.,  proposed  the  recall  of  Bona- 
parte, then  in  Egypt.  A  decree  sanctioning  the  proposition  had 
even  been  passed,  but  it  was  not  sent.  The  Bonaparte  family 
contrived  to  procure  a  duplicate  of  this  decree,  and  despatched 
it  to  Egypt,  as  I  have  related  above. 


328      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  peace  negotiations  with  Austria  are  broken  off,  and  a 
renewal  of  hostilities  is  decided  xipon — The  First  Consul  en- 
deavours to  make  the  people  believe  in  his  attachment  to 
the  Constitution  and  to  reassure  the  friends  of  Liberty — 
He  leaves  Paris,  to  take  command  of  the  Army — His  vic- 
tories— The  state  of  feeling  in  Taris  after  the  departure 
of  the  First  Consul — Euinours  of  changes  to  be  made  in 
the  Constitution  in  favour  of  the  power  of  the  First  Consul' 
and  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  the  principle  of  heredi- 
tary succession  —  Discussion  on  the  consequences  of  the 
possible  death  of  the  First  Consul — The  news  of  the  victory 
<if  Marengo  cuts  this  short,  and  throws  Paris  into  transports 
of  joy — Great  position  of  the  First  Consul — His  return  to 
Paris — Negotiations  for  peace  are  opened  with  Austria — 
The  dispositions  of  the  belligerent  parties — The  real  designs 
of  the  First  Consul  more  and  more  clearly  revealed — His 
solicitude  to  gain  the  affection  of  the  army — Arbitrary  con- 
demnation of  General  Latoui-Foissac — Modification  of  laws 
concerning  the  "  SmigrSs"- — Manifestation  of  the  sentiments 
of  the  First  Consul  on  religious  matters — Steps  are  taken 
to  bring  about  an  understanding  with  tho  Pope-  The 
hereditary  idea  makes  progress  in  the  public  mind — Tho 
palace  of  Saint-Cloud  is  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Govern- 
ment- Great  influence  of  Canihaeeres  and  Talleyrand  over 
the  First  Consul — The  Author  IS  named  Councillor  of  State. 

The  establishment  of  the  system  adopted   by  the 
Government  did  nol  depend  entirely  on  its  adroii  w 


WAR  A   NECESSITY.  329 

or  on  our  weakness — fresh  victories  were  necessary 
to  restore  to  Bonaparte  the  eclat  which  had  been 
dimmed  rather  than  increased  by  the  expedition  to 
Egypt,  and  to  the  national  glory,  which  only  could 
blind  it  and  conceal  theJ  fetters  that  were  being 
forged  for  it  to  wear.  War  had  become  neces- 
sary, and  its  success  was  imperative.  By  means  of 
war,  good  fortune  and  his  ability  would  combine 
to  establish  the  authority  of  the  conqueror,  and 
the  last  of  our  liberties  might  be  buried  under  his 
laurels. 

Up  to  the  present  month  of  Germinal,  year  VIII. 
(April  1800),  negotiations  for  peace  had  been  carried 
on  with  Austria,  less  in  the  hope  of  coming  to  a 
satisfactory  conclusion,  than  with  a  view  to  gaining 
time  for  the  preparation  of  another  campaign. 

At  the  epoch  to  which  I  am  now  referring,  these 
negotiations  had  been  broken  off,  and  war  resolved 
upon.  Berthier  had  left  the  ministry  and  joined  the 
army  assembling  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dijon, 
then  modestly  called  the  Reserve  Army.  Bonaparte 
hesitated,  or  rather  pretended  to  hesitate,  about 
leaving  Paris.  In  a  conversation  which  I  had  with 
him  on  the  6th  Germinal,  he  assured  me  he  had  no 
intention  of  going  far  from  Paris,  and  that  if  he  left 
the  capital  for  the  moment,  it  would  be  merely  to 
hold  a  review,  after  which  he  would  return.  "  I  don't 
mean,"  he  said,  "  to  act  the  General."     I  said  all    I 


330      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

could  to  confirm  him  in  that  resolution ;  hut  I 
soon  perceived  it  to  be  a  feigned  one,  and 
that  he  had  really  determined  upon  an  opposite 
course.  The  First  Consul  felt  his  own  presence 
necessary  to  ensure  the  success  of  a  difficult  cam- 
paign, and,  above  all,  he  would  not  leave  its  laurels 
to  be  reaped  by  any  other  person.  In  this  con- 
versation, as  well  as  in  two  other  interviews  that  I 
had  with  him,  on  the  8th  and  29th  Germinal 
respectively,  he  was  emphatic  in  asserting  his 
adherence  to  the  new  institutions,  and  said  all  he 
could  to  reassure  me  respecting  the  plans  which 
he  had  disclosed  to  me  in  Italy,  and  which  he  now 
wished  me  to  believe  he  had  abandoned.  And,  in 
fact,  he  almost  persuaded  me.  Besides,  how  could  I 
imagine  his  ambition  unsatisfied,  with  the  power  he 
had  already  attained,  and  which  was  guaranteed  to 
him  by  a  Constitution  cutout,  so  to  speak,  by  himself. 
"  There  are  only  three  ways,"  he  said,  "  of  placing 
oinself  at  the  head  of  a  nation:  by  birth,  by  right 
of  conquest,  and  by  an  avowed  and  recognised 
government.  It  is  not  to  birth  that  I  owe  the  place 
I  occupy  ;  I  would  not  wish  to  appear  to  owe  it  to 
conquest  ;  a  Constitution,  only,  can  secure  it  to  me; 
and  I  inn  nothing  if  that  ConstitutioD  which  has 
given  me  my  place  be  not  maintained.  It  can  never 
!><•  lor  my  interest,  then,  that  it  should  be  altered,  or 
that  its  course  should  not  have  all  possible  liberty. 


BONAPARTE'S  POLICY.  331 

Let  the  Tribunate  continue  to  sit,  otherwise  it  will  be 
thought  that  the  Grovernment  dreads  its  permanency, 
or  that  its  existence  is  immaterial  to  the  actual  order 
of  things :  this  belief  would  undermine  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Constitution  that  rules  us,  and  which 
alone  can  maintain  me  in  my  position."  * 

He  still  held  these  sentiments,  or  at  least  chose  to 
renew  the  expression  of  them,  in  an  interview  with 
me  which  took  place  on  the  26th  Germinal.  Our 
conversation  turned  particularly  upon  the  selection 
to  be  made  of  members  for  the  Tribunate,  to  replace 
those  who  had  accepted  prefectures.  He  seemed 
desirous  that  choice  should  be  made  of  persons  with 
oratorical  pretensions  rather  than  men  of  ordinary 
abilities,  whot  would  be  merely  useful  in  the  discus- 
sion of  laws,  and  committee  work.  Considering  the 
annoyance  he  had  felt  at  the  speeches  of  Duveyrier 
and  Benjamin  Constant  from  the  very  first  sittings  of 
the  Tribunate,  I  was  astonished  to  hear  him  express 
such  an  opinion,  and  I  reminded  him  how,  at  the 
time,  he  and  all  right-thinking  men  had  disapproved 
of  the  Tribunate's  falling  into  the  ways  of  preceding 
Legislative  Assemblies,  and  letting  itself  be  carried 

*  There  had  been  some  talk  of  adjourning  the  Tribunate 
after  the  session  of  the  Legislative  Body,  but  I,  with  many 
of  my  colleagues,  had  been  of  opinion  that  it  ought  to  continue 
to  exercise  its  functions,  oven  during  the  vacations  of  the 
Legislative  Body. 


332      MEMO  IBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

away  by  declamation.  "You  are  right,"  he  replied, 
"  as  regards  ordinary  times.  But  circumstances  may 
arise,  in  which  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  to  save  the 
res  publicce,  that  the  Tribunal  should  be  enabled  to 
display  energy  and  vigour  which  can  only  be  mani- 
fested by  men  who  are  in  the  habit  of  speaking  from 
the  Tribune,  although  those  qualities  themselves  may 
be  possessed  by  many  of  its  members.  Besides," 
added  he  gravely,  "  as  a  Republican,  one  ought  to 
foresee  everything  ;  the  case,  for  instance,  of  my  own 
death."  This  reflection,  uttered  either  spontaneously, 
or  with  design,  made  a  strong  impression  on  me,  and 
the  dark  uncertain  future  that  would  follow  such  an 
event  struck  me  very  forcibly.  w  I  have  not  dared," 
I  replied,  "  to  contemplate  for  a  moment  such  a 
situation,  and  cannot  therefore  tell  what  I  should 
think  it  expedient  to  do  in  such  a  case,  nor  how  we 
ought  to  act."  "  It  is  nevertheless  necessary,"  said  the 
First  Consul,  smiling,  "  to  think  seriously  about  it." 
By  talking  in  this  style  to  all  who  approached 
him,  he  endeavoured  to  reassure  the  numerous 
friends  of  liberty  who  had  begun  to  grow  alarmed, 
and  also  to  create  a  sombre  idea  of  the  danger 
France  would  incur  in  the  event  of  bis  death.  It 
pleased  him  to  attribute  bis  success  to  his  good 
fortune.  The  ideas  of  fatalism  and  predestination 
that  lie  had  Introduced  into  his  proclamations  in 
Egypt,  he   now  endeavoured   to  spread   around    him 


BONAPARTE  LEAVES  PARIS.  333 

in  France,  and,  believing  in  them  himself,  he  wanted 
to  make  others  believe  in  them.  "  Cesar,"  he  said 
to  some  persons  who  were  with  him  on  the  9th 
Flore'al  (April  29),  "was  right  to  cite  his  good 
fortune,  and  to  appear  to  believe  in  it.  That  is  a 
means  of  acting  on  the  imagination  of  others  without 
offending  anyone's  self-love."  On  the  same  day  he 
said,  speaking  to  Gallois  and  Yolney,  "  Why  should 
France  fear  my  ambition  ?  I  am  but  a  Magistrate 
of  the  Republic.  I  merely  act  upon  the  imagination 
of  the  nation :  when  that  fails  me,  I  shall  be  nothing, 
and  another  will  succeed  me." 

In  the  meantime  the  army  collected  under  the 
walls  of  Dijon  began  to  march,  and  advanced  by 
the  Rhone  Valley.  Every  preparation  was  made 
for  the  campaign  ;  only  the  chief  who  was  to  lead 
it  was  wanting,  and  he  did  not  tarry  long.  Bona- 
parte left  Paris  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  Flore'al 
(May  6). 

I  will  not  follow  him  through  this  extraordinary 
campaign,  which  for  boldness  and  success  surpasses 
all  that  imagination  can  picture,  and  which  has  been 
described  and  commented  upon  a  hundred  times. 
As  I  was  not  an  eyewitness,  and  as  I  desire  in  these 
memoirs  to  speak  only  of  what  I  have  myself  seen 
and  heard,  I  shall  simply  relate  what  was  taking 
place  in  Paris,  while  the  most  audacious  of  military 
enterprises  was  deciding  our  destinies. 


334      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

The  departure  of  the  First  Consul,  which  produced 
a  general  sensation  in  Paris,  was  regarded  in  dif- 
ferent lights,  according  to  various  opinions.  His 
enemies — their  number  increased  every  day — hoped 
he  might  meet  with  reverses,  and  flattered  them- 
selves that  defeat  would  wrest  his  power  from  him ; 
but  they  kept  silence  while  awaiting  the  issue  of  the 
campaign.  His  partisans,  who  were  confident  of 
success,  did  not  doubt  but  that  victory  would  in- 
crease his  authority,  and  thinking  already  to  share 
it,  or  turn  it  to  the  profit  of  their  ambition  and  their 
vanity,  they  openly  announced  a  project  for  chang- 
ing the  Constitution  in  favour  of  more  personal 
power,  and  introducing  the  Hereditary  Principle. 
These  rumours  at  first  seemed  to  have  been  pur- 
posely spread  from  mere  malevolence,  and  I  wrote 
of  them  in  my  notes  of  the  23rd  Floreal  (May 
13),  only  eight  days  after  the  departure  of  the 
First  Consul  for  the  army,  as  follows  : 

"No  one  seems  to  doubt  that  the  sole  object  of 
these  rumours  is  to  bring  disfavour  and  cast  ridicule 
on  IJonaparte  and  his  family;  but  I,  who  know  the 
man  and  his  projects;  I,  who  know  that  no  name 
would  frighten  him,  attach  more  importance  to  them, 
and  I  think  I  he  question  merits  serious  discussion  in 
our  Society.*     On  discussing  it,  we  were  led  to  the 

*  This  Society,  which  mel  on  the  3rd  of  each  d(  cade,  was  com- 
posed of  the  Senators  Cabanis,  Lenoir-Laroche,  and  Garat,  and 


A   DISCUSSION.  335 


conclusion  that,  considering  the  actual  state  of  public 
opinion,  it  would  not  be  surprising  were  such 
an  innovation  attempted  with  success,  and  that  if 
the  idea  had  originated  with  Bonaparte — as  I  was 
inclined  to  believe — it  would  immediately  be  well 
received,  and  neither  devisers  nor  makers  of  Con- 
stitutions, who  would  undertake  to  demonstrate  that 
it  is  compatible  with  a  system  of  democratic  govern- 
ment, would  be  wanting ;  for  it  is  marvellous,  now- 
a-days,  how  we  contrive  to  change  things  while  still 
retaining  their  former  names. 

"  I  think  it  well,  therefore,  for  the  guidance  of 
my  memory,  to  note  down  in  this  place  the  funda- 
mental points  of  the  plan  as  it  has  been  expounded 
to  me.  In  them  there  will  be  found  a  tolerably 
exact,  imitation  of  the  English  system  of  govern- 
ment.    They  include  : 

"  A  First  Magistrate,  who  is  to  retain  the  title  of 
Consul,  or  will  take  another.  This  is  of  no  import- 
ance.    The  dignity  to  be  hereditary  in  his  family. 

"  A  Senate,  or  Upper  Chamber,  composed  of  the 
present  Senators,  and  in  part  of  some  members  of 
the  minority  of  the  nobles  at  the  States  General. 
Their  dignity  to  be  likewise  for  life  and  hereditary. 

"  A  Legislative  Body,  or  Chamber  of  Commons,  in 
which  the  Tribunate   and   the   existing   Legislative 

of  the  Tribunes  Adet,  Girardin,  Beranger,  Lebreton,  Gallois, 
and  myself. 


336      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

Body  will  be  merged,  but  whose  members  shall  be 
elective  and  removable. 

"  Such  are  the  materials  of  the  fifth  Constitution 
which  awaits  us.  And  who  shall  venture  to  say 
that  all  this  will  not  take  place  ?  Not  I,  for  one. 
I  have  become  credulous  in  the  matter  of  Constitu- 
tions, and,  in  truth,  the  distance  is  less  between 
that  of  to-day  and  the  proposed  change,  than  be- 
tween the  Government  in  existence  before  the  18th 
Brumaire  and  that  which  succeeded  it  ?  " 

It  is,  then,  evident  that  the  plans  which  have  since 
been  realised  date  much  farther  back  than  the  epoch 
at  which  they  were  openly  proclaimed ;  and  the  first 
glimpses  of  those  plans  afforded  to  the  public,  far 
from  being  the  result  of  malice,  were,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  skilful  move  in  the  game :  the  rumours 
were  set  afloat  to  accustom  Republican  ears  in 
good  time  to  the  detested  word  "  heredity."  But, 
although  the  moment  to  establish  this  new 
system  had  not  yet  arrived,  and  in  1800  it  might 
still  be  looked  upon  as  purely  speculative,  there 
was  connected  with  it  another  question  far  more 
pressing,  and  of  the  actual  hour.  'flu's  ques- 
tion had  been  raised  by  the  First  Consul  himself, 
a  few  days  before  leaving  Paris,  and  it  occu- 
pied every  mind.  "  What  is  to  be  done  in  the 
evenl  of  Bonaparte's  death?  Who  is  to  succeed 
him?" 


MOBFONTAINE.  337 


The  solution  of  this  question  could  not  be  a  matter 
of  indifference  to  any  party.  Friends  and  enemies 
of  Bonaparte,  Republicans  and  Royalists,  all  were 
concerned  in  it,  and  all  those  who  possessed  any 
influence  discussed  it  urgently.  I  myself  did  not 
abstain  from  the  general  topic.  My  association 
with  Joseph  Bonaparte  had  become  more  and  more 
intimate.  The  gentleness  of  his  nature,  his  kind 
heart,  the  value  he  placed  upon  true  friendship,  had 
gained  him  my  affection  at  a  moment  when  I  little 
suspected  the  influence  which  that  feeling  was 
destined  to  exercise  over  my  future  life.  I  had 
left  Paris  on  the  29th  Flore'al  (May  19),  to  pass 
a  few  days  on  the  beautiful  estate  of  Morfontaine, 
where  Joseph  Bonaparte  then  lived,  and  which  he 
was  occupied  in  improving.  There  our  conversa- 
tions turned  most  frequently  on  the  political  situa- 
tion. Joseph  had  just  been  named  Councillor  of 
State,  and  I  had  imagined  that  the  principal  object 
of  this  nomination  was  to  secure  greater  influence 
over  the  deliberations  of  that  body  to  the  First 
Consul.  "You  are  mistaken,"  said  Joseph;  "my 
brother  had  no  need  to  place  me  in  the  State 
Council  for  any  such  purpose ;  the  devotion  of 
all  its  members  to  him  is  so  thorough,  that  there  is 
nothing  more  to  be  desired  in  that  respect.  But  I 
am  obliged  to  look  to  the  future,  and  calculate  on 
the  possible  misfortune  of  the  General's  death.    Since 

VOL.    I.  Z 


338       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  3IELIT0. 

I  am  no  longer  allowed  to  be  "nobody,"  since,  on 
account  of  the  name  I  bear,  I  may  not  live  in  the 
retirement  which  I  should  have  greatly  preferred, 
I  have  thought  it  well  to  become  "  somebody "  in 
case  so  great  a  misfortune  should  befall  us,  and  to 
secure  beforehand  that  influence  of  which  I  and 
my  family  will  have  so  much  need." 

This  led  us  to  speak  of  the  consequences  that  might 
ensue  on  the  event  in  question :  "  My  brother," 
continued  Joseph  Bonaparte,  "  thinks  he  ought 
not  to  be  succeeded  by  a  soldier.  '  It  requires,  as  it 
is,'  he  says,  *  very  great  tact  to  control  the  crowd  of 
generals,  full  of  impatience  and  overweening  pride, 
who  aspire  to  the  brilliant  post  that  I  occupy. 
Where  is  the  man,  who,  if  I  were  gone,  could  keep 
down  all  these  conflicting  passions?  Mind,  I  tell 
you,  if  I  die  before  the  actual  order  of  tilings  has 
been  consolidated  by  a  two  years'  existence,  you  will 
have  another  Convention  after  my  death." 

This  statement,  while  giving  me  much  to  think 
of,  was  but  a  prelude  to  the  following,  made  to 
me  dining  an  interview,  in  which  we  entered  more 
at  length  into  this  question. 

Grirardin,  my  colleague  in  the  Tribunate,  was  also 
at  Morfontaine,  and  a  discussion  on  the  subject 
which  bo  deeply  interested  us,  took  place  between 
him,  Joseph  Bonaparte  and  myself,  on  the  11th 
Prairial  (May  31). 


AN  IMPORTANT  INTERVIEW.  339 

Joseph  Bonaparte  began  by  asking  us  whether 
we  knew  that  a  meeting  of  the  partisans  of  Sie'yes 
had  taken  place. 

On  our  reply  in  the  negative,  he  gave  us  the 
following  details : 

"  The  members  of  the  two  Legislative  Commissions 
which  succeeded  the  national  representation,  broken 
up  by  the  events  of  the  18th  and  19  th  Brumaire,  re- 
assembled a  few  days  ago,  with  the  exception  of 
Boulay  (of  the  Meurthe),  Lucien  Bonaparte,  and 
several  other  members  who  were  not  summoned. 
The  question  for  discussion  was :  What  should  be 
done  if  Bonaparte  were  to  fall  at  the  head  of  the 
army  he  commands,  and  which  from  the  moment 
it  crosses  the  Alps  is  in  reality  in  the  field  ?  " 

In  order  to  define  the  situation  in  which  they 
would  then  be  placed,  the  meeting  assumed  the 
event  to  have  actually  taken  place,  and  the  news 
to  have  just  reached  them.  What  course  was  to 
be  taken  ? 

All  began  by  agreeing  that  the  Constitution  ought 
to  be  upheld ;  and  as  the  maintenance  of  the 
actual  order  of  things  gave  to  .every  one  of  them 
a  position  of  prosperity  such  as  they  could  not 
reasonably  hope  for  from  a  change,  they  took  that 
as  the  basis  of  the  discussion.  The  ground  was 
therefore  narrowed  to  the  choice  of  a  successor 
to  Bonaparte. 

z  2 


340      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


"  Several  candidates  were  proposed  in  turn. 
Moreau  was  the  first  mentioned,  but  his  name  was 
not  favourably  received.  He  had,  it  is  true,  great 
military  ability  in  his  favour.  At  that  moment  he 
was  victorious,  and  could  perhaps  as  easily  as 
Bonaparte  command  peace  by  his  '  victories  — 
but  what  guarantee  did  he  offer  to  those  who  had 
composed  the  Convention  and  voted  the  death  of 
the  King  ?  He  was  a  patriot  of  more  than  dubious 
principles  and  conduct:  he  was  suspected  of  con- 
nivance with  Pichegru  on  the  18  th  Brumaire ;  he 
might,  at  the  first  shock  of  events,  betray  the 
interests  confided  to  him,  treat  with  Foreign  Powers, 
or  even  play  the  part  of  Monk,  a  sufficiently 
tempting  role  to  a  man  of  his  character,  and  one 
which  seemed  to  accord  better  than  any  other  with 
the  vacillation  of  opinion  he  had  hitherto  manifested. 

Brune  was  next  named ;  but  a  multitude  of  objec- 
tions of  an  opposite  nature  were  raised  against  him. 
As  an  accomplice  of  the  revolutionary  excesses  lie 
could  only  rally  round  him  the  remains  of  a  party 
which  had  become  odious  to  the  sounder  sense  of 
the  nation. 

Both  one  and  the  other  were  therefore  set  aside 
by  motives  which,  though  differing  in  origin,  had 
the  same  cause ;  the  fear  of  a  disadvantageous 
result  for  those  who  were  discussing  the  matter. 

Finally,  Carnot  was  proposed,  and  it  seems  that 


CABNOT.  341 


every  one  was  already  so  well  disposed  in  his  favour 
that  the  proposition  was  not  so  much  debated  as  sup- 
ported   by  every  argument  that  the  meeting  could 
adduce  in  his  favour.     Carnot,  they  said,  had  voted 
the  death  of  the  King ;  in  that  vote  the  partisans  of 
Sieyes   possessed   a   sufficient    safeguard   for   them- 
selves.   He  had  been  deported  on  the  18th  Fructidor  ; 
therefore  all  the  moderate  party  rallied  round  him. 
He  enjoyed  a  great  reputation  for  military  capacity ; 
the  army  would  be  glad  that  he  should  be  at  the 
head  of  the  Government.     Moreau,  whose  friend  he 
was,  whom  he  had  called  the  Fabius  of  France,  would 
answer  for  the  troops  under  his  command,  and  would 
counterbalance  the  wrath  of  the  army  of  Italy  and 
of  the  Bonapartists.     Lastly,  he  had  supported  the 
Jacobins  after  the  9th  Thermidor,  and  made  common 
cause  with  Barrere,    Collot,    and  Billaud-Varennes ; 
thus  their  partisans  would  attach  themselves  to  him. 
So  much  reciprocal  suitability,  so  many  pledges  given 
to  all  parties,  placed   Carnot  in   a  unique  position. 
His  elevation  to  power  would  be  a  security  for  all, 
without  being  alarming  to  any. 

Echasseriaux,*  in  particular,  supported  this  pro- 
posal. Others  spoke  at  greater  or  less  length,  and 
finally  the  opinions  of  all,  doubtless  formed  before 
the  meeting,  were  brought  into  unanimity.     It  was 

*  A  former  member  of  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred,  now 
a  Tribune. 


342       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


agreed  that  another  meeting  should  be  held,  and  it 
was  even  proposed  that  Lucien  Bonaparte  should  be 
invited  to  the  second  conference.  They  owed  him 
great  obligations ;  he  alone,  in  the  new  order  of 
things,  had  upheld  the  Patriotic  party  ;  it  was  he  who 
by  his  influence  had  placed  its  members  in  the  posts 
attached  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  and  who 
defended  them  daily  against  reiterated  attacks.  He 
was  not  like  his  brother  Joseph,  who  under  a  feigned 
moderation,  an  apparent  incapacity,  hid  a  fiery  soul 
and  a  boundless  ambition.  It  seems,  however,  that 
the  meeting  broke  up  without  any  decision  on  this 
last  point  having  been  come  to. 

Such  was  the  account  Joseph  Bonaparte  gave  us, 
and  on  its  conclusion  he  seemed  to  expect  that 
we  should  express  our  opinions  respecting  it. 
Girardin  and  I  were  little  prepared  for  such  a  con- 
fidence. As,  however,  we  were  agreed  in  principle, 
we  jointly  endeavoured  to  show  Joseph  Bonaparte 
how  greatly  that  proposal,  which,  according  to  the 
account  he  had  given  us  of  the  meeting,  had  been 
the  most  favourably  received  there,  was  opposed  to 
his  own  interests  ;  especially  as  it  had  been  made  un- 
known to  him,  and  apparently  without  any  appre- 
hension that  his  family  might  oppose  it,  or  any  idea 
that  his  consent  was  needful  to  ensure  its  success. 

"Carnot,"   we   said,  "was   indeed   the  enemy  of 
Sieyes,  and  in  that   respeel  offered  some  advantage 


CABNOT.  343 


to  the  Bonapartes,  but  was  it  to  be  supposed  that  he 
would  not  conceal  or  even  renounce  that  enmity 
from  the  moment  that  so  brilliant  an  inheritance  was 
in  question  ?  was  it,  above  all,  to  be  believed,  that, 
having  attained  such  an  elevation,  Carnot  would 
permit  the  inheritors  of  the  name  of  Bonaparte,  the 
only  men  whom  he  had  cause  to  fear  in  the  career 
open  to  him,  to  retain  influence  ?  Moreover,  the 
differences  which  existed  between  Carnot  and  the 
Constitutional  party  were  only  individual ;  one 
common  principle,  the  fear  of  one  common  danger, 
united  them,  and  the  party  of  the  Convention  knew 
this  perfectly  well.  The  Committee  of  Public  Safety 
was  naturally  reconstructing  itself;  and  while  doing 
Carnot  the  justice  to  separate  him  from  that  Com- 
mittee in  so  far  as  the  crimes  with  which  it  was 
reproached  under  the  rule  of  Robespierre  Mere 
concerned,  it  would  be  going  too  far  to  believe  that 
he  was  a  total  stranger  to  them. 

His  conduct  in  the  affairs  of  Billaud  and  Barrere 
proved  clearly  that  if  he  was  not  bloodthirsty  like 
them,  he  was  at  least  the  apologist  of  their  actions 
and  had  tried  to  justify  them  by  specious  arguments. 
It  might,  therefore,  be  feared  that  if  Carnot  were 
in  power  he  would,  perhaps,  in  spite  of  himself, 
bring  back  the  men  of  the  Convention  with  their 
principles,  an  act  which  would  be  fatal  both  to 
liberty    and    to    the    repose    of    France,    just    now 


344      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

beginning  to  breathe  freely,  relieved  from  the  yoke 
she  had  borne  too  long. 

Objections  were  indeed  plentiful ;  but  while 
making  them,  we  knew  not  whom  to  propose. 
The  great  defect  in  the  Constitution  of  year  VIII. 
was  that  it  made  no  provision  for  replacing  the 
First  Magistrates  of  the  Eepublic,  and  confined 
itself  to  enacting  that  they  should  be  chosen  from 
the  list  of  Notables  of  the  nation,  without  indicating 
either  how  this  list  was  to  be  drawn  up,  nor  in  what 
manner  the  election  was  to  take  place.  In  pro- 
portion as  we  became  more  and  more  strongly 
convinced  that  our  governing  institutions  offered 
no  possible  means  of  security  against  the  conse- 
quences which  would  follow  Bonaparte's  death, 
the  future  of  our  country  presented  itself  to  our 
imagination  in  darker  colours. 

Our  first  reflections  led  us  to  believe  that  this 
defect  had  been  intentional,  so  designed  that  the 
necessity  of  remedying  it  must  one  day  be  re- 
cognised, but  that  great  care  would  be  taken  not  to 
remedy  it  until  men's  minds  had  been  insensibly  led 
to  tolerate,  first,  Power  for  Life,  a  temporary  means 
of  putting  aside  the  chances  of  election,  and  secondly, 
Hereditary  Power,  the  simplest  means  of  avoiding 
danger,  and  to  which  the  first  steps  would  infallibly 
lead.  We  perceived  so  clearly  that  this  was  the 
<  nd    Inwards   which  we  had  travelled   without    being 


A   SUCCESSOR   TO  BONAPARTE.  345 

aware  of  it,  that  before  the  conclusion  of  the  inter- 
view, whose  principal  circumstances  I  record  in  this 
place,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  choice  of 
the  successor  to  the  First  Consul  must  lie  between 
Moreau,  Carnot,  and  the  brothers  Joseph  and  Lucien 
Bonaparte. 

Now  it  was  evident  that  the  two  last  candidates 
could  only  be  proposed  on  account  of  their  name ; 
this  therefore  was  to  acknowledge  a  privileged 
family.  From  that  acknowledgement  to  Hereditary 
Right  was  but  a  step.  And  yet,  at  what  a  moment 
were  these  novel  ideas  put  forward  !  The  younger 
of  the  two  brothers  who  were  in  a  position  to  aspire 
to  this  great  inheritance,  had  the  greater  force 
of  character  and  political  ability,  and  had  already 
made  himself  a  name  in  the  Revolution,  but  he  had 
inspired  aversion  by  his  immorality  ;  while  the  elder 
was  of  far  superior  character,  but  almost  unknown, 
and  had  not  as  yet  any  hold  on  public  favour.  Yet 
we  had  to  submit  to  the  drawbacks  of  a  system  of 
government  vicious  in  its  very  essence,  and  which, 
being  neither  a  monarchy  nor  a  republic,  combined 
the  faults  of  both,  without  possessing  the  decided 
advantages  of  either. 

Thus  all  that  remained  to  Girardin  and  me  after 
our  discussion,  and  the  details  given  us  by  Joseph 
Bonaparte,  was  the  certainty  that,  should  the  death 
of  the  First  Consul   occur  while   we  were   still   en- 


346      MEMOIBS   OF  COUNT  3110 T  BE  MELITO. 

gaged  on  these  questions,  no  one  could  foresee 
the  results  of  that  event,  and  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  escape  from  the  internal  divisions  and 
misfortunes  which  it  would  occasion  ;  but  if,  on  the 
contrary,  Bonaparte  returned  victorious,  and  his 
life  was  prolonged,  the  Constitution  would  be  re- 
modelled, and,  it  was  greatly  to  be  feared,  not  in  a 
sense  favourable  to  liberty. 

We  did  not  remain  long  in  doubt.  While  in 
Paris  all  parties  were  engaged  in  calculations  and 
projects  respecting  the  entire  or  divided  inheritance 
of  Bonaparte,  he  was  striding  on  from  victory  to 
victory,  and  the  news  of  the  glorious  battle  of 
Marengo,  which  reached  Paris  on  the  2nd  Messidor 
(June  20),  put  all  these  ideas  to  flight,  and  left  in 
their  place  only  a  universal  sentiment  of  astonish- 
ment and  admiration.  Never  had  the  national 
pride  been  more  flattered,  never  had  the  hope  of 
national  prosperity  risen  so  high,  and  never  was  the 
nation  more  disposed  to  gratitude  towards  the  man 
from  whom  it  then  expected  to  receive  the  greatest 
of  all  benefits,  a  lasting  peace,  the  fruit  of  his 
victories.  For  two  whole  days  Paris  was  drunk 
with  joy.  The  illuminations  were  general  and 
spontaneous.  The  Senate  and  the  Tribunate  held 
an  extraordinary  silling  to  receive  the  messages 
sent  to  them  from  the  Consuls  officially  announcing 
the  greal  victory,  and  those  messages  were  welcomed 


REJOICINGS  AFTER   MARENGO.  347 

with  shouts  of  applause.  Political  enmities  and 
discords  seemed  to  be  extinguished,  and  were  at 
least  suspended.  Every  apprehension  was  allayed, 
and  no  one  regretted  any  longer  that  so  much 
power  had  been  entrusted  to  a  man  who  used  it  so 
nobly.  So  great,  so  unexpected  a  triumph  justified 
everything. 

The  victory  of  Marengo  placed  France  in  a  more 
favourable  position  than  she  had  occupied  for  a  long 
time.  Abroad,  she  had  regained  her  military  glory. 
The  Austrian  army  had  demanded  and  obtained  an 
armistice.  Negotiations  for  a  definitive  peace  were 
about  to  open,  and  if  we  did  not  abuse  our  victory 
by  exaggerated  pretensions,  a  Continental  peace  was 
certain.  At  home,  Jacobinism  was  destroyed,  the 
partisans  of  the  ancient  dynasty  were  overthrown ; 
liberal  ideas  began  to  display  themselves  openly, 
and  notwithstanding  some  attempts  on  the  liberty 
of  the  press  by  Lucien  Bonaparte,  that  tutelary 
guarantee  of  popular  institutions  was  enabled  to  hold 
its  own  against  attack.  The  public  profession  of 
irreligion,  and  the  affectation  of  a  shocking  cynicism 
had  disappeared,  but  the  priests,  while  they  were 
free  to  exercise  their  functions,  had  not  yet  regained 
a  dangerous  influence.  No  sect  had  obtained  the 
preference  or  received  a  salary  from  the  State.  The 
necessity  for  a  strong  government  had  been  felt,  but 
we  had  not  as  yet  had  to  blush  for  a  humiliating 


348      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

servitude.  Returning  confidence  had  everywhere 
brought  about  a  revival  of  credit.  Military  glory 
did  not  as  yet  weigh  upon  the  citizens,  because 
soldiers  and  officers  were  taken  indifferently  from  all 
the  ranks  of  society,  and  returned  to  them  without 
effort.  The  army  belonged  to  the  country,  and  had  to 
all  appearance  victoriously  served  it  only ;  it  had  not 
as  yet  become  the  property  of  the  Chief  of  the  State. 
Science,  arts,  and  letters,  began  to  flourish  again, 
and  needed  only  the  establishment  of  peace  to  acquire 
fresh  lustre.  Public  education  was  based  on  ex- 
cellent principles,  and,  keeping  clear  of  subjects  of 
contention,  confined  itself  to  providing  the  country 
with  enlightened  and  well-informed  citizens.  The 
institution  of  the  Polytechnic  School  had  attained  a 
high  degree  of  perfection.  Pupils  formed  by  such 
men  as  Monge,  Laplace,  Lacroix,  Fourcroy,  and  many 
other  celebrated  professors,  were  ready  each  year  for 
the  Artillery,  the  Engineers,  or  the  Sappers  and 
Miners;  and  young  savante,  after  a  few  years  of 
instruction  from  their  masters,  took  their  places  by 
their  side  as  Professors  in  their  turn. 

What  then  was  wanting  to  confirm  this  prosperity 
and  to  afford  Europe  the  spectacle  and  example  of 
a  great  regenerated  people,  enjoying  liberty  without 
falling  into  licence,  triumphantly  led  by  capable 
chiefs,  but  not  becoming  the  slave  of  those  chiefs: — 
what    was    wanting    for    this?     a    Washington.       If 


BONAPARTE   TBIU3IPRANT.  349 

Bonaparte  on  his  victorious  return  from  the  field 
of  Marengo  had  taken  that  illustrious  citizen  as  his 
model,  what  might  he  not  have  done  for  the  happi- 
ness of  France,  for  his  own  true  glory,  and  even  for 
the  duration  of  his  authority !  No  resistance  was 
opposed  to  him — he  could  do  all  he  wished.  The 
storm  of  the  revolution  had  swept  his  way  clear,  and 
violently  overthrown  every  obstacle,  the  ground  was 
levelled  and  ready  to  sustain  a  solid  edifice.  All  the 
evil  was  already  done ;  and  now  all  that  remained 
was  to  consign  it  to  oblivion,  by  the  reparation  of 
private  misfortunes  through  the  action  of  wise  and 
humane   laws. 

But  instead  of  seconding  this  great  impulse,  the 
man  on  whom  our  destinies  began  to  depend 
arrested  it.  He  preferred  to  lead  us  back  upon  the 
traces  of  the  Past,  and,  unhappily  for  France  and  for 
himself,  he  was  but  too  successful,  and  too  well 
served  in  that  endeavour. 

The  First  Consul  reached  Paris  on  the  night  of 
the  12th  Messidor  (June  30),  eighteen  days  after 
the  battle  of  Marengo.  The  political  bodies  of  the 
State,  the  magistrates,  the  administrators,  in  short, 
all  that  Paris  contained  of  men  distinguished  by 
office  or  personal  position,  hastened  to  congratu- 
late him,  and  the  crowd  filled  even  the  vast 
apartments  of  the  Tuileries.  Adulation,  praise, 
and  flattery   of  all   sorts   were    rife ;  never   before 


350      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


in  France  bad  a  conqueror  enjoyed  so  great  a 
triumph.* 

Each  tried  to  outdo  his  fellow  in  exalting  the 
man  whom  he  had  come  to  adulate,  and  in  finding 
obsequious  and  emphatic  expression  for  the  public 
gratitude  ;  so  that  the  nation,  whom  these  flatterers 
pretended  to  represent,  seemed  to  be  courting  the 
yoke.  Besides,  however,  the  great  admiration  which 
so  brilliant  a  victory  inspired,  it  was  intolerable  that 
all  this  rapturous  praise  should  be  lavished  on 
the  Chief  alone,  without  any  mention  being  made 
of  the  army  which  had  so  gloriously  seconded 
him. 

Amid  the  torrent  of  adulation,  hardly  a  word 
was  said  of  our  grief  for  the  blood  which  the 
victory  had  cost  us,  and  for  the  loss  of  that  brave 
soldier,  General  Desaix,  called  the  Just  Sultan 
by  the  Arabs  in  Egypt,  who  had  fallen  on  the 
field  of  Marengo.  In  the  evening  fresh  illumina- 
tions, more  brilliant  than  before,  testified  to  the 
public  rejoicing. 

The  First  Consul  profited  very  cleverly  by  the 
enthusiasm  he  had  inspired,  and  used  to  the  full,  but 
wisely,  the  advantage  which  the  suppleness  and 
flexibility  of  the  national  character  placed  in  his 
band.     In   the  midst  of  all  these  demonstrations  of 

*  Tho   reason    is    obvious;  tho    General    might    bo    praised 
without  any  risk  of  displeasing  the  Head  of  the  State. 


AUSTRIA.  351 


devotion  to  his  person,  he  was  perfectly  well  aware 
that  the  most  urgent  need  of  France  was  peace,  and 
that  he  owed  his  power  in  a  great  measure  to  the 
helief  that  he  alone  could  obtain  that  boon,  and  that 
he  also  desired  it.  He  therefore  seconded  the  public 
aspiration  with  a  great  appearance  of  zeal.  Joseph 
Bonaparte,  who  was  to  preside  over  the  negotia- 
tions, had  set  out  for  Milan  immediately  on  receipt 
of  the  news  of  the  first  successes  of  the  French  army. 
He,  however,  arrived  too  late.  The  march  of 
events  had  been  so  rapid  that  he  could  not  be  com- 
missioned to  treat  for  the  armistice' after  the  battle 
of  Marengo.  Nevertheless,  he  remained  several 
days  at  Milan  after  the  departure  of  his  brother,  in 
expectation  of  some  overtures  from  Austria.  The 
First  Consul  had  written  to  the  Emperor,  reminding 
him  how  moderate  his  conduct  had  been  with  respect 
to  the  House  of  Austria,  during  the  preliminaries 
of  Leoben  and  the  peace  of  Campo-Formio.  He 
proposed  either  to  resume  the  conditions  of  the  latter 
treaty,  without  negotiations,  and  to  adopt  them 
anew,  or  to  name  a  place  of  meeting  where  negotia- 
tions for  their  modification  might  be  entered  into. 
In  the  event  of  the  Emperor's  declining  both  these 
proposals,  the  First  Consul  declared  that  he  would 
be  forced,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  war,  to  give  it 
another  direction,  and  to  continue  it  only  with  the 
view    of    extending    the    revolution    to    Germany. 


352      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Austria  having  deferred  her  reply  to  this  overture, 
Joseph  Bonaparte  had  left  Milan,  and  returned 
to  Paris  on  the  15th  Messidor  (July  4).  Shortly 
after  his  return,  he,  with  the  Councillors  of  State 
Fleurieu  and  Roederer,  received  instructions  to  treat 
with  the  three  Commissioners  from  the  United 
States,  who  had  just  landed  in  France,  for  the  nego- 
tiation of  peace  between  the  two  nations.  We  also 
learned  at  this  period  that  an  armistice  had  been 
signed  between  General  Moreau's  army  and  that 
of  General  Kray,  and  that  Count  St.  Julien  had 
arrived  in  Paris,  with  powers  from  the  Emperor  to 
treat  with  the  French  Government.  Joseph  Bona- 
parte, who  was  at  Morfontaine,  was  summoned  to 
Paris  to  conduct  the  negotiations  with  the  Count. 

Everything,  in  fact,  seemed  to  wear  a  pacific 
aspect,  and  the  hope  of  attaining  to  the  desired  end 
of  so  many  struggles  and  so  much  bloodshed  had 
restored  general  good-humour.  But,  for  my  own 
part,  I  remained  only  a  very  short  time  under  a 
delusion  ;  I  speedily  perceived  that  the  conclusion 
of  peace  would  be  again  delayed.  Count  St.  Julien 
had  arrived  in  Paris,  persuaded  that  peace  was  so 
absolutely  required  in  the  interests  of  the  First 
Consul  and  for  the  maintenance  of  his  authority, 
that  there  were  no  conditions  to  which  the  French 
Government  would  not  accede  in  order  to  obtain  it. 
His  surprise  was  great  to  find  the  Government  far 


BONAPARTE'S  AMBITION.  353 

otherwise  disposed ;  not  only  would  Bonaparte  in 
nowise  modify  the  conditions  of  the  Treaty  of 
Campo-Formio,  but  he  was  even  more  exacting. 
In  short,  judging  from  what  Joseph  Bonaparte  said 
to  me  in  the  course  of  a  conversation  at  Morfontaine 
on  the  12th  Thermidor  (July  31),  I  perceived  that 
peace  was  not  desired  by  the  First  Consul  so  strongly 
as  was  generally  believed ;  he  was,  on  the  contrary, 
anxious  to  persuade  France  that  he  desired,  rather  than 
in  reality  to  conclude  peace.  His  enterprising  genius 
soared  above  the  present  moment.  Faithful  to  the 
aims  he  had  conceived  in  Italy,  he  believed  war  to 
be  still  necessary  to  him,  and  ever  looking  forward 
to  the  future,  he  did  not  regard  himself  as  having 
reached  the  end  of  the  career  which  the  Ee volution 
had  opened  up  to  him.  "  You  understand  nothing 
about  it,"  he  said  to  his  brother  Joseph,*  who  was 
speaking  to  him  of  the  necessity  of  concluding 
matters  with  the  American  Commissioners ;  "  you 
understand  nothing  about  it.  In  two  years'  time 
we  shall  be  masters  of  the  world.  If  the  kings 
make  peace,  they  are  lost ;  two  years  of  prosperity 
to  France  will  destroy  their  power ;  and  if  they 
continue  the  war,  they  are  still  more  surely  lost." 
And  then,  colouring  his  political  prophecy  with 
that   tinge    of  superstition  which    he  mingled  with 

*  I   quote   the    exact    words    repeated    to    me    by    Joseph 
Bonaparte. 

VOL.    I.  2    A 


854       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

everything,  he  continued :  "  Nothing-  has  yet  hap- 
pened to  me  that  I  have  not  foreseen ;  I  alone 
am  surprised  at  nothing  that  I  have  accomplished. 
Even  so  I  can  also  divine  the  future,  and  even  so 
I  shall  reach  the  end  I  propose  to  myself.* 

With  dispositions  such  as  these  on  either  side,  it 
was  not  surprising  that  the  negotiations  had  at  first 
no  result.  The  Count  of  St.  Julien,  having  con- 
cluded nothing,  left  Paris  towards  the  middle  of  the 
month  of  Thermidor  (the  beginning  of  August)  on 
his  return  to  Vienna.  But  as  Austria,  who  before 
entering  seriously  into  negotiations,  wished  to  try 
the  chances  of  a  campaign  in  Germany,  was  trying 
to  gain  time  so  as  to  recover  from  the  reverses  she 
had  sustained  ;  and  as  on  the  other  hand  the  First 

*  These  fatalistic  notions  seem  to  have  been  shared  more  or 
less  by  all  the  family.     M.  Charles  Bonaparte,  the  father,  died 
at   Montpcllier,   in    his    thirty-seventh  year,   of  a   very  long- 
standing  chronic  disease.       Joseph  Bonaparte,  who   was   with 
hi  in  in  his  last  moments,  often  beard  him,  when  partly  delirious 
from  pain,  asking  for  his  son  Napoleon.     "Where  is  he?"  he 
exclaimed  repeatedly.     "  Where  is  my  son  Napoleon  ?    Ho  whose 
sword  will   make  kings  tremble  !  he  who  will  change  the  face 
of   Europe!      lie  would  defend  me  from  my  enemies  ;  he  would 
save  my  life!"     Joseph  Bonaparte,  who  told  me  this  anecdote, 
added,  "  I  am  almost  ashamed  of  what  T  say  to  you,  and  certainly 
I  would  say  it  to  no  one  but  yourself.     But  the  thing  is  certain. 
There  exists  moreover   another  witness  to  this  singular  fact; 
Peach,    my   mother's    brother.      He,   as   well   as   I,   was   present 
at  ley  father's  deathbed,  and  can  confirm  what  I  have  just  told 
you." 


BONAPARTE'S   TACT.  355 

Consul  wished  to  encourage  the  hope  of  peace 
which  was  so  ardently  desired  by  France ;  the  two 
Powers  agreed  to  open  a  Congress  at  Lune'ville  and 
to  transfer  the  negotiations  thither.  Everything 
was  adjourned  until  the  opening  of  this  Congress, 
which  also  had  to  be  put  off  to  the  beginning  of 
winter. 

While  the  First  Consul  thus  cleverly  averted 
the  disgust  which  would  have  been  created  by 
a  sudden  renewal  of  hostilities,  and  gratified 
the  national  feelings  by  opening  negotiations  with 
the  American  Commissioners,  whose  progress,  al- 
though slow,  promised  a  satisfactory  issue,  he  was 
giving  the  Government  and  the  Administration 
a  new  direction,  which,  notwithstanding  his  care- 
fulness to  keep  the  public  mind  in  a  state  of 
indecision,  revealed  his  real  intentions.  Confident, 
through  the  enthusiasm  he  had  inspired,  and  re- 
lieved by  the  death  of  Kleber,  who  was  assassinated 
at  Cairo   on  the    24th    of  June,    1800,*    from   the 


*  The  First  Consul  was  at  Morfontaine,  where  he  was 
passing  a  few  days  in  the  month  of  Fructidor,  when  the  news 
of  this  event  reached  him.  It  was  another  of  Fortune's  favours 
to  him,  and  Joseph  admitted  that  his  brother  so  considered  it. 
Kleber  was  the  personal  enemy  of  Bonaparte;  he  could  not 
forgive  him  for  having  deserted  him  in  Egypt,  and  as  he  was 
highly  esteemed  in  the  army,  he  would  have  been,  had  he 
returned  to  France,  a  serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  First 
Consul. 

2  a  2 


3  56       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT   MIOT  DE  MELTTO . 


fear  of  any  formidable  rival  in  the  army,*  he  ven- 
tured farther   than  he  had  hitherto   ventured.     He 
appointed  Chamberlains  for  himself,  under  the  name 
of  Prefects  of  the  Palace,  and  four  Ladies  of  Honour 
for  his    wife    under   a   less    ambitious   designation ; 
thus  making  a   marked  distinction  between  himself 
and   the  other  two  Consuls.     The  etiquette  of  the 
Tuileries  became  every   day   more  punctilious,  and 
Republican  manners  gave  place  by  degrees  to  those 
of  a  monarchy.     At  the  same  time  the  First  Consul 
took   all    possible    pains    to   acquire    the    exclusive 
affection  of  the  army,  and  to  accustom  it  to  look  to 
him  only  as  the  rewarder  of  military  services.     The 
Institution  of  "  arms   of  honour "    was  wonderfully 
well  adapted  to  this  end.     As  the  First  Consul  con- 
ferred them  without  consultation  with  his  colleagues, 
and  his  signature  alone  appeared  on   the  warrant, 
the  soldiers  soon  came  to   look  upon  him  as  their 
only  chief,  and  as  the  distributor  of  all  the  favours 
to   which    they    could  aspire.     The   conviction   that 
the   fortune  of  soldiers  and  officers  depended  solely 
on  him,    was   the  origin    of  that  absolute    devotion 

*  Massena  and  Moreau,  whoso  military  reputation  came  next 
to  Bonaparte's,  wero  not  in  a  position  to  dispute  the  sove- 
reignty with  him.  The  first  was  rejected  by  public  opinion 
lor  well-known  reasons;  the  second,  from  weakness  of  cha- 
ncier, lei  the  moment  slip  when  he  might  by  asserting  himself 
have  overturned  a  power  which  afterwards  was  too  firmly  estab- 

[\t hed  for  such  an  al tempt. 


BONAPARTE'S  POWEE.  3b; 


to  him  which   the    army    displayed,    a    devotion  of 
which    he    took    every    possible    advantage.     Nor 
did  he  omit  to  gratify  the  military  by  every  kind 
of  favour  which  tended   to  distinguish    them  from 
other  citizens.     The  greatest  honour  was  paid  to  the 
memory  of  General  Desaix ;    a  public  subscription, 
encouraged  by  Bonaparte,  was  opened  to  defray  the 
cost  of  a  monument,  and  was  responded  to  as  much 
from  a  desire  to  please  him  as  from  gratitude  for  the 
services  of  the  deceased  General.    He  also  took  pains 
to  please  the  army,  by  causing  public  honours  to  be 
paid  to  the  brave  Latour-d'Auvergne,  First  Grena- 
dier of  France,  who  lost  his  life  on  the  9th  Thermidor, 
year  Till.  (July  28, 1800),  at  the  battle  of  Neueburg. 
But  the  First  Consul  also  arrogated  to  himself  a  more 
dangerous   power,   by  assuming,  together  with  the 
right  of  bestowing  favour  and  honour  on  the  soldiery, 
that  of  awarding  blame  and  punishment,  a  terrible 
right,  which  should  never  be  exercised  except  by  a 
legal    tribunal.     On  the  9th  Thermidor,  year  VII. 
(July    27,   1799),   General  Latour-Foissac   had    sur- 
rendered the  stronghold  of  Mantua  to  the  Austrians. 
Had  this  capitulation  been    rendered  necessary  by 
the  condition  of  the  citadel  and  the  advance  of  the 
enemy  ?      This   was   a   question   which   a   military 
tribunal   alone    could   decide.     Bernadotte,    at   that 
time    Minister,     had    already    summoned    a   court- 
martial,  and  the  inculpated  General  had  published 


358       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

a  justificatory  statement.  But  the  First  Consul, 
instead  of  waiting  for  the  decision  of  the  Council, 
took  the  initiative,  and  in  a  simple  letter  to  the 
Minister  of  War  pronounced  sentence  on  the  General 
without  trial  or  judgment. 

On  the  other  hand,  persevering  in  the  system  of 
fusion  that  he  had  adopted,  he  summoned  to  the  most 
important  functions  of  the  State  men  of  the  most 
opposite  opinions  and  political  conduct.  Thus,  on 
the  same  day,  Barbe-Marbois,  who  had  been  banished 
on  the  18th  Fructidor,  was  called  to  the  Council  of 
State  ;  General  Jourdan,  who  having  declared  himself 
against  the  18th  Brumaire,  had  been  excluded  from 
the  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred,  wTas  appointed 
Minister  Extraordinary  in  Piedmont,f  and  Bernier, 
a  former  member  of  the  Convention,  who  had  voted 
for  the  King's  death,  and  was  then  a  Councillor  of 
Stale,  was  appointed  President  of  the  Council  of 
Prizes  of  War.  In  order  to  complete  the  political 
fusion,  the  laws  relating  to  the  em'ujres  were  modi- 
fied, and  the  amnesty  that  had  been  granted  to  the 
Yendeans  was  extended  to  the  neighbouring  depart- 
ments. Lastly,  the  First  Consul  being  persuaded 
lhat   much  might    be   gained  from  the  gratitude  of 

*  This  letter  is  in  flic  'Monitcur'  of  6th  Thermidor. 

I"  General  Jourdan  on  accepting  lluv  appointment  made  a 
very  noble  speech.  Ii  may  be  found  in  the  'Moniteur'of  12th 
Thermidor,  year  VIII. 


BONAPARTE'S  RELIGIOUS  SENTIMENTS.       359 

the  clergy,  and  that  he  might  one  day  make  them 
useful  towards  the  ends  he  proposed  to  himself, 
took  an  early  opportunity  of  proving  that,  far  from 
being  the  enemy  of  religious  feeling,  he  was  dis- 
posed to  encourage  its  revival  in  France.  He  wrote 
therefore  to  the  Prefect  of  La  Vendee  to  send 
him  twelve  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  depart- 
ment, as  he  wished  to  have  information  respecting 
them,  and  if  there  were  any  priests  who  could  form 
part  of  the  deputation,  to  choose  them  in  preference. 
"  For,"  added  he  in  this  remarkable  letter,  "  I  love 
and  esteem  priests,  who  are  good  Frenchmen,  and 
who  know  how  to  defend  their  country  against  the 
eternal  enemies  of  the  French  name,  those  wicked 
heretics,  the  English?'*  This,  the  first  manifestation 
of  Bonaparte's  sentiments  in  matters  of  religion, 
excited  a  lively  interest.  It  was  praised  by  some 
as  a  wise  stroke  of  policy,  and  blamed  by  others, 
who  at  that  time  were  called  Ideologists.  But 
neither  insidious  praise,  nor  the  clamour  of  philo- 
sophy could  stay  the  First  Consul. 

A  few  days  later  (27th  Thermidor)  I  heard 
from  Joseph  Bonaparte  that  his  brother  was 
engaged  in  contriving  a  reconciliation  with  tho 
Pope.  Overtures  in  that  direction  had  been  made 
through   Mgr.  Gardoqui,  Auditor  of  the  Rota,  for 

*  See    this   letter    in    the    'Moniteur'   of    8th   Thermidor, 
year  VIII. 


360       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Spain,  and  had  been  well  received.  It  was  hoped 
that  they  would  end  in  an  arrangement,  in  which 
a  kind  of  mezzo  termine,  agreeable  to  both  parties, 
would  be  taken.  Joseph  Bonaparte  told  me  at 
the  same  time  that,  in  the  event  of  dealings  with 
Rome,  he  would  be  appointed  to  negotiate  and  to 
sign  the  treaty.  "  It  is  essential,"  the  First  Consul 
had  said  to  him  a  few  days  previously,  "it  is  essen- 
tial for  you  to  efface  the  recollection  of  what  you 
have  done  against  the  Papacy,  for  you  are  looked 
upon  as  its  destroyer.*  And  as  you  cannot  have  the 
troops  for  your  followers,  since  you  did  not  embrace 
a  military  career,  and  have  not  shared  in  their 
glory,  it  is  important  that  you  should  obtain  the 
support  of  a  powerful  party.  The  only  one  able 
to  counterbalance  the  influence  of  the  army  is 
composed  in  France  of  the  priests  and  the  Catholics. 
Now  you  will  certainly  obtain  this  result  by  recon- 
ciling the  French  clergy  with  the  Pope." 

To  these  various  circumstances  which  afford 
some  notion  of  the  ideas  then  occupying  the  mind 
of  the  First  Consul,  and  which  he  subsequently 
put  into  execution,  I  will  add  an  anecdote  relating 
to  the  same  subject.  I  had  passed  the  evening  of  the 
3rd  Thermidor  (July  22)  at  Bonaparte's  house,  where 

*  The  First  Consul  is  alluding  here  to  events  that  took  place 
in  Rome  on  (ill.  Nivo.M",  year  VI.  (December  2(1,  1797),at  which 
time  Joseph  Bonaparte  was  Minister  of  (he  French  Republic. 


BONAPARTE'S  DIFFICULTY.  361 

I  had  met  the  celebrated  Laplace.  A  rather  long 
conversation  took  place  between  us  three,  turning 
more  on  scientific  subjects  than  on  any  other.  In 
the  midst  of  this,  the  First  Consul,  struck  by  some 
reply  or  some  objection  of  Laplace's,  turned  towards 
him  and  exclaimed  :  "  But,  citizen  Laplace,  you  are 
an  atheist." 

While  the  various  impulses  thus  given  to  public 
opinion  were  keeping  men's  minds  continually  on 
the  stretch,  fresh  rumours  of  a  change  in  the  Con- 
stitution arose,  and  although  the  First  Consul,  at  a 
State  dinner,  which  he  gave  at  the  Tuileries  to 
celebrate  the  anniversary  of  the  14th  of  July,  had 
proposed  a  toast  to  "  the  anniversary  of  the  14th  of 
July,  and  to  the  French  people  our  sovereign ! ' 
everything  foreboded  that  this  sovereignty  of  the 
people,  the  base  of  each  succeeding  constitution  since 
1789,  was  approaching  its  end.  In  all  his  con- 
fidential intercourse  with  the  members  of  the  Senate 
and  Tribunate,  Bonaparte  complained  that  the 
Constitution  did  not  prescribe  any  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding to  the  election  of  a  successor  to  the  First 
Consul.  "  There  is  a  lacune,"  he  said  to  Cabanis 
on  the  12th  Thermidor,  "in  the  actual  social  contract 
which  ought  to  be  filled  up.  If  the  repose  of  the 
State  is  to  be  secured,  it  is  indispensable  that  there 
should  always  be  a  consul-elect.  I  am  the  object 
aimed  at  by  all  the  Royalists  and  Jacobins ;    every 


3(32       MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

day  my  life  is  threatened,  and  the  danger  will  be 
greater  if  I  am  obliged,  on  recommencing  the  war, 
to  put  myself  again  at  the  head  of  the  army.  What 
in  that  case  would  be  the  fate  of  France,  and  how 
can  the  evils  which  would  be  the  inevitable  result 
of  such  an  event  be  averted  ?  " 

Twenty  days  later  (1st  Fructidor),  while  I  was 
walking  with  him  in  the  gardens  of  Malmaison,  he 
spoke  on  the  same  subject,  on  the  occasion  of  the  law 
which  was  then  before  the  Council  of  State  for  the 
regulation  of  the  formation  of  the  lists  of  eligibles 
for  the  various  public  functions,  according  to  the 
Constitution  of  year  VIII.  The  framing  of  this 
law  presented  great  difficulties,  and  the  strange 
device  of  the  '  Notables,'  a  remnant  of  Sie'yes'  plan, 
appeared  to  have  been  introduced  into  our  institu- 
tions, only  to  exhibit  the  insufficiency  of  all  the 
methods  which  were  proposed  as  substitutes  for  the 
hereditary  principle.  The  First  Consul,  however, 
seemed  to  be  at  that  time  against  the  hereditary 
principle,  "  because,"  as  he  said  to  me,  "  he  regarded 
it  as  impossible  of  establishment  without  also  esta- 
blishing an  intermediate  body  participating  in  its 
advantages,  that  is,  without  the  revival  of  a  nobility. 
Such  a  revival  would  offend  too  many  opinions, 
recently  formed,  and  still  in  their  iirsl  fervour,  loi- 
ns to  be  able  to  attempl  it."  He  wished  therefore 
that  for   the  present    "efforts   should   be    restricted  to 


BONAPARTE'S  ARGUMENTS.  363 


framing  the  best  law  possible  on  the  composition  of 
the  lists  of  notability.  If  the  debate  which  was 
to  take  place  at  the  Tribunate  should  prove  its  in- 
sufficiency, without  substituting  a  more  practicable 
scheme  for  it,  the  impossibility  of  forming  these  lists 
would  be  demonstrated.  And  so  soon  as  this  truth 
was  recognised,  it  would  seem  allowable  to  have 
recourse  to  means  foreign  to  the  Constitution  in 
order  to  supply  the  want.  In  that  case  such  an 
innovation  would  be  called  for  by  public  opinion 
instead  of  being  opposed  by  it." 

This,  as  any  one  might  have  seen,  was  merely 
hovering  about  the  difficulty,  in  order  to  bring  the 
question  constantly  back  to  its  real  aim ;  the  demon- 
stration of  the  necessity  for  the  establishment  of  the 
hereditary  principle.  Therefore,  in  spite  of  the 
apparent  caution  of  the  First  Consul  and  the  scruples 
he  affected,  there  was  little  hesitation  in  promoting 
what  were  believed  to  be  his  real  wishes,  and  a  new 
Constitution  was  sketched  out,  on  the  bases  of 
heredity,  as  I  have  indicated  them  above  only,  in 
order  to  gain  the  suffrages  of  the  other  two  Consuls, 
that  prerogative  was  extended  to  their  families  also. 
This  was  a  piece  of  folly,  for  though  the  hereditary 
principle  may  be  admitted  in  a  deliberative  body, 
such  as  a  Chamber  of  Peers  or  a  Senate,  or  in  a 
body  of  nobles,  because  it  transmits  merely  certain 
privileges  and  honorary  rights  ;  it  can  only  exist,  as 


3G4       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

regards  the  executive  power,  in  the  person  of  one 
single  magistrate,  he  who  is  at  the  head  of  the 
Government ;  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  the 
heredity  of  the  executive  power  of  necessity  consti- 
tutes monarchy.  Lastly,  the  divorce  of  Bonaparte, 
and  his  marriage  with  one  of  several  princesses  who 
were  named,  was  already  spoken  of.  An  infanta  of 
Spain  was  at  first  proposed  as  a  bride  for  the  First 
Consul,  but  as  he  replied  to  Volney,  who  was  jesting 
with  him  about  that  alliance,  "If  I  were  thinking 
of  marrying  a  second  time,  I  should  not  seek  a  wife 
in  a  house  that  is  falling  into  ruin."  This  scheme  was 
abandoned,  and  a  German  princess  was  mentioned. 
It  was  observed  also  that  at  this  time  the  First 
Consul  gathered  together  a  picked  corps,  consisting  of 
Grenadiers  and  Chasseurs  (Light  Infantry),  to  form 
the  nucleus  of  a  future  guard ;  that  he  had  ap- 
pointed Junot  Commandant  of  Paris,  and  given  the 
command  of  the  Artillery  to  Marmont,  two  of  his 
most  devoted  aides-de-camp.  Some  political  inten- 
tion was  supposed  to  be  hidden  under  these  military 
measures,  but  I  have  ascertained  this  conjecture  to 
he  unfounded.  Ilis  own  personal  safety  was  his 
only  motive,  and  the  plots  which  were  successively 
laid  against  the  life  of  the  First  Consul  are  sufficient 
proof  that  these  precautions  were  not  unnecessary. 

Moreover,  even  supposing  that  he  desired  to  pre- 
cipitate the  changes  which  lie  subsequently  effected, 


BONAPARTE'S  MISTAKES.  365 

and  which  he  was  too  wise  to  attempt  before  he  had 
made  his  peace  with  the  religious  party,  and  gained 
them  over  by  the  re-establishment  of  the  former  rela- 
tions between  France  and  the  Pope ;  supposing  this, 
— he  would  have  had  no  need  of  staunch  and  devoted 
troops  in  order  to  carry  them  out.  The  country  was 
anxious  to  anticipate  his  sovereign  power ;  he  was 
urged  to  grasp  it.  There  was  a  universal  infatuation  ; 
no  honours  could  be  too  great  for  the  First  Consul, 
no  marks  of  public  gratitude  could  be  excessive. 
Shortly  after  his  return  to  Paris,  the  Commune  of  St. 
Cloud  petitioned  the  Tribunate  that  the  palace,  the 
gardens,  and  the  domain  of  St.  Cloud  should  be  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  First  Consul.  The  Tribunate 
seemed  inclined  to  grant  this  petition  (which  was 
believed  to  have  been  suggested),  giving  it  however 
the  character  of  a  national  reward  by  changing  the 
name  of  the  palace  from  St.  Cloud  to  Marengo,  after 
the  example  of  that  which  had  been  done  in  England 
for  Marlborough  after  the  battle  of  Blenheim.  But  the 
First  Consul,  whom  I  saw  the  day  after  the  petition 
had  been  laid  before  the  Tribunate,  was  opposed  to 
any  concession  which  should  be  personal  to  himself. 
"  Not  that  I  think,"  said  he,  "  that  this  kind  of  recom- 
pense to  the  generals  and  magistrates  of  a  great 
nation  should  not  be  introduced  into  France,  but  it 
seems  to  me  that  such  a  gift,  which  I  should  look 
upon  as  an  honour  from  the  nation,    can  only  be 


36G       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

offered  me  when  I  shall  cease  to  exercise  the  func- 
tions with  which  I  am  now  invested.  And  in  truth," 
he  added,  "  of  what  use  would  the  gift  of  St.  Cloud 
be  to  me  at  this  moment,  and  how  could  I  have  the 
deed  of  gift  drawn  up,  since  it  could  only  be  effected 
by  passing  a  law,  and  every  proposition  of  a  new  law 
is  attributed  exclusively  to  me  by  the  Constitution. 
Therefore  all  that  can  be  done  is  in  a  general  way  to 
place  St.  Cloud  at  the  disposal  of  the  Government." 
This  took  place  shortly  afterwards.  But  the  petition 
and  the  sensation  produced  by  it,  and  the  manner 
in  which  ideas  which  were  so  completely  alien  to 
the  Eepublican  principles  hitherto  loudly  professed 
were  received,  were  sufficient  indications  of  the  un- 
spoken tendencies  of  men's  minds.  Not  only  interested 
friends  of  the  First  Consul  were  impelling  him  towards 
the  sovereign  power  (his  true  friends  and  those  of 
France  were  very  far  from  doing  so),  but  his  most 
dangerous  enemies,  the  partisans  of  the  former 
dynasty,  were  also  pressing  him  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, for  they  were  convinced  that  if  monarchy 
were  but  established,  they  would  only  have  to  drive 
away  the  parvenu  monarch,  or,  if  he  could  not  be 
thus  disposed  of,  to  await  his  death,  in  order  to  give 
hack  the  throne  he  had  reared  again  to  its  former 
possessors. 

Thus  in   the  same  way  thai   ten  years  previously 
the    impulse    given    to    society    carried    it    headlong 


1800.  3G7 

towards  the  destruction  of  fill  our  ancient  institutions, 
and  a  universal  demand  for  change  and  innovation 
prevailed  in  every  quarter,  so,  in  1800,  all  those 
who  exercised  any  influence  over  the  nation,  tended 
to  make  it  retrace  its  steps,  and  what  had  been  of  old 
was  now  held  up  as  a  model  for  that  which  ought  to 
be.  Nothing  was  good  but  the  Past,  and  as  a  prelude 
to  its  restoration  in  the  forms  of  government,  every 
former  custom  was  adopted  that  did  not  too  openly 
offend  against  the  habits  which  had  been  contracted 
during  the  course  of  the  Revolution. 

Cambaceres  and  Talleyrand,  two  persons  who  began 
at  this  time  to  exercise  a  great  ascendency  over  the 
First  Consul,  because  they  flattered  his  inclinations, 
now  entered  heartily  into  his  plans,  and  smoothed 
the  path  which  he  desired  to  take.  Cambaceres 
made  himself  answerable  for  the  former  members  of 
the  Legislative  Assembly,  and  for  the  magistracy, 
which  by  favours  and  gifts  of  places  in  the 
Government  and  on  the  Bench,  he  trained  to  retro- 
gression towards  the  Past ;  and  if  a  few  acceded 
unwillingly  or  even  refused  to  be  bribed,  the  greater 
number  forsook  without  difficulty  the  principles  they 
had  hitherto  professed,  for  the  sake  of  honour  and 
wealth.  Talleyrand  undertook  to  bring  the  nobility 
to  the  feet  of  their  new  Master,  and  found  his 
task  less  difficult  than  did  Cambace'res.  Madame 
Bonaparte's    receptions   were    crowded    with    nobles 


368      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

and  returned  emigres.  No  favour  offered  by  Bona- 
parte was  refused,  no  employment  was  disdained, 
and  these  gentlemen  seemed  only  to  be  waiting  for 
the  First  Consul  to  ascend  the  throne  in  order  to 
resume  their  own  titles  and  their  former  functions 
at  the  Court  of  our  kings. 

Seconded  on  both  sides  by  this  double  influence 
of  two  such  opposite  parties,  the  First  Consul  main- 
tained his  own  equilibrium  between  them,  without 
allowing  either  to  encroach  upon  the  other  for  a 
moment.  He  advanced  with  increased  confidence 
towards  his  aim ;  yet  he  never  neglected  the  public 
business,  but  worked  at  it  with  indefatigable  ardour. 
No  one  had  ever  so  assiduously  endeavoured  to  esta- 
blish the  Administration  on  such  a  solid  basis  as  that 
which  he  gave  to  it,  and  which  is  still  the  ground- 
work, not  only  of  the  Administration  existing  to  this 
day  in  France,  but  also  of  tbose  in  other  countries 
which  have  adopted  his  system.  lie  enforced  the 
st liefest  order  in  the  management  of  the  public 
funds,  and  if  he  was  at  first  obliged  to  shut  his  eyes 
to  the  extortions  of  Talleyrand,  Lucien  Bonaparte, 
Bourrienne,  and  the  rascally  subordinates  who 
served  under  them,  he  was  not  unaware  of  their 
existence,  lie  repressed  them  by  degrees,  and  even 
punished  them. 

Sueli    was    the    state   of  France   at   the   close  of 
year   VIII.  (September    L800).      In    the   course   of 


FBANCE  AND  EUROPE.  369 


that  eventful  year,  the  nation  had  risen  from  her 
ruins  and  reappeared  in  all  her  glory  on  the  stage 
of  the  world.  Abroad,  she  was  regarded  with 
mingled  fear  and  admiration.  Europe  already  felt 
that  her  destiny  would  depend  on  that  of  France, 
and  that  the  destiny  of  France  hung  on  the  ex- 
traordinary man  who  had  placed  himself  at  her 
head.  This  man,  therefore,  became  the  one  sole 
object  of  every  plot  and  every  conspiracy.  To 
beat  France  on  the  field  of  battle  was  no  longer 
the  question ;  there  were  too  many  adverse  chances, 
and  the  struggle  was  too  formidable ;  but  the 
destruction  of  the  man  who  ruled  her  would  once 
more  deliver  her  up  to  a  state  of  anarchy  which 
must  complete  her  ruin. 

I  had  watched  the  course  of  events  closely,  and 
the  consequences  that  I  have  just  deduced  from 
them  were  clear  to  my  perception.  The  friendship 
and  confidence  of  Joseph  Bonaparte,  my  conversa- 
tions with  the  First  Consul,  who  was  still  occasionally 
accessible  to  me  on  account  of  our  former  intimacy 
in  Italy,  had  initiated  me  into  certain  secrets,  and 
had  enabled  me  to  detect  certain  hidden  meanings 
unknown  to  others.  Yet  I  had  no  place  in  the 
Government  up  to  the  end  of  year  VIII.,  and,  as  a 
Member  of  the  Tribunate,  I  was  opposed  to,  rather 
than  associated  with,  its  acts. 

My  position  wras  about  to  undergo  a  change.     On 

VOL.    I.  2    B 


370      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

the  fifth  complementary  day  of  that  year  (September 
22),  I  received  a  note  from  Cambace'res,  asking 
me  to  call  on  him  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
I  went.  He  had  been  desired  by  the  First  Consul 
to  inform  me  of  his  intention  to  summon  me  to 
the  Council  of  State  on  the  1st  Tendemiaire,  and 
to  ask  whether  this  appointment  would  meet  my 
views. 

The  new  functions  which  were  offered  to  me  were 
more  in  accordance  with  my  tastes  and  habits  than 
those  I  should  have  to  relinquish.  I  accepted  with 
eagerness. 

Five  other  Councillors  of  State  were  appointed 
at  the  same  time  as  I.  General  Gouvion-St.-Cyr 
to  the  War  Section ;  Portalis  and  Thibandeau  to 
the  Section  of  Legislation ;  Francois  de  Kautes  and 
Slice,  like  myself,  to  the  Section  of  the  Interior. 

The  promotion  of  citizens  chosen  from  such 
widely  differing  parties  was  dictated  by  the  system 
of  fusion  to  which  the  First  Consul  at  that  time 
adhered  in  all  his  appointments,  with  the  purpose 
which  I  have  already  explained. 


(     371     ) 


CHAPTER  XI. 

A  Treaty  of  Peace  with  the  United  States  is  signed — Incident 
connected  with  the  date  of  that  Treaty — The  active  part 
taken  by  the  First  Consul  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Council 
of  State — The  proposed  law  on  the  formation  of  lists  of 
Eligibles  is  abandoned — The  Eepublican  conspiracy  of 
Ceracchi  and  its  consequences  —  Reform  of  the  laws  on 
Emigration — Letter  from  Louis  XVIII.  to  the  First  Consul 
■ — Arrival  of  Count  von  Cobentzel  to  negotiate  for  peace — 
Rudeness  of  the  First  Consul  to  that  Minister,  who  leaves 
Paris  on  his  way  to  Luneville — Dissensions  between  the  First 
Consul  and  his  brother  Lucien — Violent  dispute  between 
the  latter  and  Fouche — Lucien  is  removed  from  the  Ministry 
of  the  Interior  and  appointed  Ambassador  to  Madrid — The 
Author  is  selected  for  a  second  Mission  to  Corsica — Opinions 
expressed  by  the  First  Consul  during  the  debates  of  the 
Council  of  State. 

The  ninth  year  of  the  Republic  began  auspiciously. 
The  armistice  with  Austria  had  been  prolonged 
for  forty-five  days  ;  peace  with  the  Americans  had 
been  signed  on  the  4th  Vendemiaire  (September 
26,  1800)  ;  the  Congress  at  Luneville  was  about  to 
open ;  the  Russian  Minister  at  Berlin  had  been 
directed  to  treat  with  our  Minister,  General  Bour- 

2  b  2 


372      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


nonville,  and  the  Czar,  Paul  L,  had  become  in- 
fatuated with  Bonaparte,  of  whom  he  spoke  with  the 
wildest  enthusiasm  ;  all  these  things  contributed  to 
strengthen  the  hope  of  a  near  and  general  peace. 
The  fete  at  Morfontaine,  in  honour  of  the  conclusion 
of  the  Treaty  of  Peace  with  the  United  States,  was 
consequently  most  brilliant  and  animated.  I  was 
present,  as  were  also  the  American  Commissioners, 
the  Consuls,  the  Ministers,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  Generals,  Tribunes,  and  members  of 
the  Legislative  Body.  Among  other  persons  of 
note  who  had  received  invitations  was  General 
La  Fayette,  and  the  compliment  paid  to  that  famous 
citizen  was  universally  approved. 

An  incident  occurred  connected  with  the  con- 
clusion of  peace  which  will  not,  I  think,  be  out  of 
place  in  this  narrative. 

The  treaty  had  really  been  signed  at  Morfontaine, 
where  the  conferences  had  been  held  and  where 
they  terminated  :  and  Joseph  Bonaparte  greatly  re- 
gretted that  the  Act  should  bear  the  date  of  Paris 
instead  of  that  of  Morfontaine.  He  was  attached 
to  the  place,  which  would  thus  have  acquired 
a  kind  of  historical  celebrity.  He  spoke  of  his  dis- 
appointment to  mo,  and  as,  after  a  few  minutes' 
consideration,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  (here 
would  probably  si  ill  be  time  to  effect  the  desired 
alteration,     I     undertook    to    be  the    bearer  of    the 


A    CURIOUS  INCIDENT.  373 

proposal  to  Talleyrand.  An  express  despatched  by 
that  Minister  to  Havre  might  easily  arrive  there 
before  the  embarkation  of  the  American  Commis- 
sioners, and  by  means  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Murray, 
the  United  States  Minister  in  Paris,  who  had  nego- 
tiated the  treaty,  the  change  of  date  might  be  made 
on  the  copy  which  they  were  to  take  back  with 
them. 

I    saw    Talleyrand     on    the     13th    Vende'miaire 
(October  5)  at  Auteuil,  and,  at  first,  he  seemed  quite 
disponed  to  fall  in  with  the  plan  ;  but  I  afterwards 
had  reason  to  believe  that  his  acquiescence  was  not 
quite  sincere.     We  agreed  to  meet  on  the  following 
day,  and  I  accompanied  him  to  the  Tuileries.     He 
went  in  to  see  the  First  Consul,  and  I  waited  for 
him  in  a  drawing-room.     I  had  scarcely  been  there 
five  minutes,  when  Bonaparte,  opening  the  door  of 
his  private  room  himself,  called    me  in.     The   con- 
versation was  animated,    he   said   that   his  brother 
had  missed  his  opportunity,  and  that  opportunities 
when  missed  did  not  recur ;  then  he  took  a  higher 
flight,    and    said    that    missed    opportunities    were 
the   cause   of  great   revolutions,    and    of   the    over- 
throw of   empires  ;    that   it  would   have  been  very 
easy  to  have  had  the    thing   done,    as   his   brother 
wished  it,  at  the  time  of   signing    the    treaty,  but 
that  now  he  would  never  consent  to  the  proposed 
proceeding.     I  tried  in  vain  to    alter  his   decision, 


374      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


and  Talleyrand  supported  me,  although  feebly.  The 
First  Consul,  however,  took  umbrage  at  the  media- 
tion of  his  Minister  in  an  affair  which  he  might 
have  arranged  himself  had  he  sincerely  desired  it, 
and,  turning  sharply  to  him,  he  said,  "Why  did 
you  come  and  consult  me  about  it?  You  should 
have  done  it  without  asking,  and  afterwards  I 
should  have  thought  it  quite  right."  Talleyrand 
stammered  out  that  he  had  told  him,  because  it  was 
necessary  to  tell  him  everything,  but  that  there  were 
certain  things  that  he  might  know  without  being 
supposed  to  know  them,  and  this  one  was  of  the 
number.  Notwithstanding  all  this  fencing,  I  soon 
perceived  there  was  nothing  to  be  done,  and  I  with- 
drew. Talleyrand  was  more  than  civil  to  me  on  our 
way  back,  he  tried  very  hard  to  persuade  me  that  in 
the  step  I  had  just  taken  the  First  Consul  could  only 
see  a  proof  of  my  affection  for  his  brother,  and  that, 
in  reality,  he  must  feel  pleased  at  it.  We  parted, 
and  I  returned  to  Morfontaine.  I  have  narrated 
this  anecdote,  not  very  interesting  in  itself,  only 
because  it  was  a  revelation  to  me  of  a  trait  in  the 
character  of  Bonaparte.  From  his  own  words 
I  perceived  the  great  importance  which,  according 
to  the  maxim  of  one  of  the  sages  of  Greece,*  he 
attached    to   knowing   how   to  seize   Opportunity;   a 

rittacus  ;  his  motto  was ^aipbv  yv&Bi,  oceanonem  nosce.    The 
King  of  Prussia  called  ( Opportunity  "  the  mother  of  grout  ovonts." 


BONAPARTE'S  ADMINISTRATIVE  SAGACITY.    375 

doctrine  that  during  the  most  brilliant  period  of 
his  career  generally  guided  his  conduct  with  great 
advantage. 

On  returning  to  Paris,  whither  I  was  called  by  my 
new  duties,  I  was  assiduous  in  my  attendance  at  the 
sittings  of  the  Council  of  State.  I  was  also  present 
at  various  Councils  of  Administration,  to  which  the 
First  Consul  summoned  me,  and  which  were  some- 
times prolonged  to  a  late  hour  at  night.  No  branch 
of  the  government  was  unfamiliar  to  him,  and  he 
entered  into  the  minutest  details  with  wonderful 
sagacity. 

The  Council  of  State  was  particularly  occupied  at 
this  time  in  framing  a  law  for  the  formation  of  the 
lists  of  eligibles,  who  by  the  terms  of  the  Consti- 
tution were  to  furnish  the  candidates  for  the  various 
public  offices,  and  even  for  the  renewable  consulships. 
But  the  deeper  we  plunged  into  this  discussion,  the 
less  could  we  see  our  way.  Roederer  and  I  were 
jointly  charged  with  the  task,  and  we  had  contrived 
and  framed  a  project  of  law  ;  but  we  were  well 
aware  that  the  difficulties  of  its  execution  would 
be  serious.  I  read  it  aloud  to  the  Council  of 
State.  It  was  printed,  and  each  member  studied  it ; 
but,  either  I  had  not  succeeded  in  expressing  my 
own  aud  my  colleague's  ideas  clearly,  or  the  executive 
details  appeared  impracticable,  or — as  I  can  readily 
believe — our   difficulties  were   purposely   multiplied 


376      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

so  as  to  lead  to  the  abandonment  of  a  scheme  which 
did  not  suit  the  views  of  the  First  Consul ;  at  any 
rate,  it  was  ultimately  given  up.  Although  the 
plan  was  at  first  adopted,  as  Bonaparte  had  not 
given  it  his  approval,  it  was  sent  hack  for  exami- 
nation to  the  Sections  of  the  Interior  and  of  Legis- 
lation, so  that  they  might  either  amend  our  project 
or  propose  another.  But  the  subject  was  threadbare, 
time  went  by,  and  subsequent  events  caused  the  pro- 
jected law  to  be  lost  sight  of;  it  perished  still-born. 

The  power  of  the  First  Consul  was  increasing 
through  a  concourse  of  circumstances  produced 
by  his  own  genius,  and  which  he  contrived  to 
turn  to  the  advantage  of  the  nation,  by  the 
order  that  he  introduced  into  every  branch  of  the 
government,  and  to  his  own,  by  making  himself 
the  sole  source  of  benefits  or  rewards.  But  his 
enemies  were  also  increasing  in  number,  and  being 
more  than  ever  persuaded  that  by  striking  down 
this  one  man  they  could  overturn  the  Government, 
they  were  secretly  sharpening  the  daggers  with 
which  they  hoped  to  strike  him. 

The  extreme  Republicans  and  the  partisans  of 
the  former  dynasty,  united  by  a  common  interest, 
witliniii  maintaining  any  mutual  relations,  were 
hatching  the  same  plots,  and  seemed  only  to  be 
disputing  who  should  strike  the  first  blow. 

The    Republicans  did    the  deed.     A    few   enthu- 


TEE   CONSPIRACY  OF  CEB ACCEL  377 

siasts  formed  a  plot  to  assassinate  the  First  Consul 
at  the  Opera.  The  particulars  of  the  conspiracy, 
which  was  discovered,  and  those  of  the  trial  and 
condemnation  of  its  authors,  are  to  be  found  in  the 
writings  of  the  period,  and  especially  in  a  pamphlet 
entitled,  "  Proces  instruit  par  le  tribunal  criminel 
contre  Demerville,  Ceracchi  et  autres  accuses."  I 
shall  confine  myself,  therefore,  to  narrating  some  few 
details  of  the  event  which  came  to  my  knowledge 
in  course  of  time. 

The  conspirators,  nine  in  number,  desired,  before 
putting  their  plan  into  execution,  to  add  four  to 
their  association.  They  proposed  to  a  retired 
soldier  to  join  them,  believing  they  could  rely  on 
him.  He  feigned  consent,  and  introduced  three 
other  malcontents  who  were  but  spies  in  the  pay 
of  the  police,  and  the  execution  of  the  plot  was 
fixed  for  the  13th  Vende'miaire  (October  10).  The 
conspirators,  armed  with  carbines,  pistols  and 
poniards,  were  to  surround  the  First  Consul  as  he 
entered  his  carriage  after  the  Opera;  to  kill  him, 
to  set  fire  to  the  theatre,  distribute  innumerable 
copies  of  a  proclamation  drawn  up  in  the  name  of 
an  Insurrectionary  Committee,  and  accomplish  an- 
other revolution  in  the  Government. 

Bonaparte  was  informed  of  these  details  early  in 
the  day.  He  summoned  the  other  two  Consuls  and 
held  a  conference  with  them.  It  was  resolved, 
against  their  advice,  that  the  First  Consul  should  go 


378      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

to  the  Opera  as  lie  had  originally  intended.*  On  this 
the  other  two  Consuls  resolved  to  accompany  him 
thither.  The  Guards  were  doubled,  and  during  the 
performance,  which  passed  off  very  quietly,  one  of 
the  principal  actors  in  the  plot,  Ceracchi,  a  Roman 
by  birth  and  a  celebrated  sculptor,  was  arrested, 
together  with  one  or  two  other  conspirators. 

Ceracchi  confessed  everything  on  being  examined 
by  the  Minister  of  Police.  He  admitted  the  con- 
spiracy, and  said  that  it  was  his  intention  to  have 
assassinated  Bonaparte,  whom  he  abhorred  as  the 
oppressor  of  his  country ;  in  short,  his  replies 
revealed  an  extraordinary  state  of  excitement,  and 
a  fanaticism  approaching  to  insanity.  He  named 
Barrere's  Secretary  as  having  distributed  arms  and 
money  to  the  conspirators.  Each  of  them  had 
received  a  pair  of  pistols,  a  dagger,  and  twenty 
louis  in  gold ;  and  in  fact,  arms  and  gold  were 
found,  as  Ceracchi  had  said,  on  those  who  were 
arrested,  lie  added  that  he  was  not  to  strike 
the  blow  himself,  but  he  was  recognised  as  their 
chief  by  the  conspirators,  and  he  had  placed  himself 
above  the  First  Consul's  box  to  give  the  signal.  He 
was  perplexed  at  the  non-appearance  of  the  others, 
came  down,  and  was  arrested  on  the  staircase. f 

'  Lea  Horaces'  was  to  be  performed  for  the  first  time. 
+  I  li;nl  not,  lii'cn  personally  acquainted  with  Ceracchi  during 
my  residence  in  Italy.  bu1  I  had  often  heard  of  him.    His  talent 
for  sculpture  was  very  remarkable. 


BABBEBE.  379 


Police  officers  were  despatched  to  Barrere's  house 
to  arrest  his  Secretary,  but  he  was  not  there  ;  he  had 
gone  into  the  country  two  days  before,  and  it  was 
resolved,  though  unwillingly  on  the  part  of  Bona- 
parte, that  Barrere  himself  should  be  arrested.  This 
decision  was  come  to  in  consequence  of  Barrere's 
singular  conduct  on  the  preceding  day.  He  had 
gone  to  Junot,  to  warn  him  that  a  plot  was 
being  hatched  against  the  life  of  the  First  Consul, 
and  that  precautions  should  be  taken ;  but  he  had 
not  explained  himself  further. 

After  the  event,  this  half  confidence  was  thought 
to  be  a  clever  way  of  sheltering  himself  from 
suspicion,  if  the  plan  did  not  succeed,  since  he  had 
not  said  enough  to  ensure  its  failure.  It  was 
believed,  therefore,  at  first,  that  Barrere  was  well 
aware  of  the  conspiracy,  but  the  arrest  of  his  former 
secretary,  named  Demerville,  of  Joseph  Arena,*  and 
of  Topius-Lebrun,f  which  took  place  a  few  days 
afterwards,  dispelled  every  suspicion  that  had  been 
entertained  against  Barrere,  and  he  was  immediately 
set  at  liberty.  Many  persons  of  note  were  com- 
promised likewise,  and  in  particular  several  Italian 
refugees,  among  them  the  Duke  de  Bonnelli  and  the 

*  He  was  a  Corsican  and  a  personal  enemy  of  Bonaparte. 
I  had  met  him  in  Corsica.  He  was  a  man  of  ability,  of  very 
active  mind,  and  had  much  decision  of  character. 

f  A  painter,  pupil  of  David.  He  had  been  one  of  the  jury 
of  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  under  Robespierre. 


380      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Prince  de  Santa-Croce.  Madame  Visconti,  whose 
house  was  a  place  of  meeting  for  all  Italians, 
received,  notwithstanding  her  intimate  friendship 
with  Berthier,  an  order  to  leave  Paris.  It  had  been 
remarked  that  on  the  day  appointed  for  the  execu- 
tion of  the  conspiracy  she  had  gone  to  the  Opera, 
escorted  by  Salicetti,*  who  had  excused  himself  on 
some  trifling  pretext  from  dining  that  evening  with 
Joseph  Bonaparte.  Carnot's  resignation  of  the  post 
of  War  Minister,  which  he  sent  in  two  days  be- 
fore the  date  on  which  the  life  of  the  First  Consul 
was  threatened,  likewise  gave  rise  to  comments, 
which  the  well-known  character  of  that  General 
should  have  sufficed  to  prevent.  But  all  these 
suspicions  were  dispelled  by  the  light  which  was 
thrown  on  the  conspiracy  by  the  '  instruction  '  in  the 
case.f  Only  those  who  were  really  guilty  were 
prosecuted,  and  after  prolonged  proceedings,  lasting 
over  three  months,  their  heads  fell  on  the  scaffold. 

The  results  of  this  conspiracy  were,  as  always 
happens  in  similar  cases,  rather  favourable  than 
injurious  to  the  authority  of  the  First  Consul,  and 
they  contributed  to  confirm  his  power.     The  Council 

*  Salicetti  was  very  intimate  with  Joseph  Arena. 

|  I'.onaparto  hesitated  for  some  time  hefore  lie  gave  orders  for 
the  drawing  up  of  the  instruction  against  the  conspirators.  lie 
feared  the  publicity  of  the  defence  and  even  the  confessions  of 

the  ;k en ;-ed,  who  prided  themselves  on   their  attempt,  and  pro- 
claim^! themselves  the  avengers  of  oppressed  liberty. 


BESULTS  OF  THE  CONSPIBACY.  381 

of  State  went  in  a  body  to  the  Tuileries  to  express 
their  sympathy  with  the  head  of  the  Government  in 
the  danger  he  had  just  escaped.  The  Tribunate 
followed  their  example,  and  anticipated  the  propo- 
sitions that  might  be  made  to  it  concerning  the 
precautions  to  be  taken  against  a  repetition  of  this 
attempt.  It  was,  in  fact,  at  this  period  that  the 
functions  of  the  Prefect  of  Police  in  Paris  were 
extended  beyond  the  limits  of  the  capital,  and  to 
the  Commune  of  St.  Cloud  in  particular,  and  that 
the  action  of  the  police,  who  had  given  proofs  of 
ability,  fidelity,  and  activity  on  the  occasion,  ac- 
quired greater  importance,  and  became  one  of  the 
most  powerful  auxiliaries  of  the  Government.  It 
was  at  this  period  also  that  Fouche'  gained  the 
entire  confidence  of  the  First  Consul,  and  began 
to  exercise  an  influence  over  him  from  which 
Bonaparte  could  never  entirely  free  himself,  not- 
withstanding the  numerous  proofs  which  he  had 
of  faithlessness  and  treachery. 

The  plot  of  Ceracchi  and  his  accomplices,  who 
all  belonged  to  the  extreme  revolutionary  class, 
contributed  to  convince  the  First  Consul  that  his 
greatest  and  most  dangerous  enemies  were  to  be 
found  in  that  party  ;  and  that  consequently  he  should 
arm  himself  chiefly  against  the  remaining  Jacobins 
and  Terrorists.  The  emigres  and  partisans  of  the 
former  dynasty  ceased  to  be  formidable  in  his  eyes, 


382      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MEL1T0. 

and  he  thought  lie  should  gain  them  entirely  to  him- 
self by  relaxing  the  rigour  of  the  laws  against  emi- 
gration in  their  favour.     With  this  view  he  proposed 
for  discussion  in  the  Council  of  State  the  celebrated 
decree  of  the  28th  Yende'miaire,  year  IX.  (Oct.  20, 
1800),     whose    effect   was   the   reversal   of  all   the 
former  terrible  legislation  existing  since   1793,  that 
had  been  the  cause  of  so  much  individual  wrong  and 
suffering.     The   new    decrees,    which    met   with  no 
serious  opposition  in  the   debates  of  the  Council   of 
State,  proved  that  the  Government,  while  performing 
this  act    of  justice  from  motives  of  moderation  and 
equity,  was  entirely  convinced  that  in  throwing  open 
the  gates  of  France  to  the  emigres,  it  was  not  open- 
ing them  to   enemies.     Apart   from  the  confidence 
inspired  by  gratitude  on  which  he  reckoned,  nothing 
could  be  more  adapted  to  confirm  the  First  Consul's 
views  than  a  curious  circumstance  which  I  shall  now 
relate,  and  which,  if  true,  as  I  have  every  reason  to 
believe  it  was,  must  have  decided  Bonaparte's  line 
of  action  towards  the  emigres.     I  wrote  it  down  as 
follows,  on  the  very  day  on  which  Girardin  and  I 
heard  it  from  Joseph  Bonaparte. 

One  confidence  had  led  to  another,  and  lastly 
Joseph  Bonaparte  revealed  a  very  singular  cir- 
cumstance. "About  three  months  ago,"  said  he, 
"  the  First  Consul  received  from  the  Pretender 
(Louis  XVI 1 1.)  a  Idler  of  four  pages,  written  entirely 


A  LETTER  FROM  LOUIS  XVIII.  383 


in  his  own  band.  It  contains  a  kind  of  renunciation 
of  the  throne ;  but  at  the  same  time  calls  upon 
Bonaparte  to  consider  whether,  since  he  has  been  so 
great  a  benefactor  to  France,  it  would  not  be  conso- 
nant with  his  greatness,  his  generosity,  nay  even  his 
humanity,  to  recall  the  true  heir  of  this  ancient  mon- 
archy to  the  sovereign  power,  by  securing  to  him 
the  position  that  would  become  vacant  on  the  death 
of  the  present  Head  of  the  Government.  The  letter 
also  contains  warm  praise  of  our  First  Magistrate, 
and  states  that  commands  have  been  laid  on  all 
Royalists  dwelling  on  French  soil,  to  remain  per- 
fectly quiescent,  and  neither  to  plan  nor  attempt 
anything  against  the  existing  Government." 

Our  informant  had  seen  this  letter,  but  it  was 
not  in  his  possession.  I  did  not  therefore  see  it 
myself;  but  I  can  affirm  that  if  this  statement  be 
untrue,  the  falsehood  cannot  be  laid  to  the  charge 
of  Joseph  Bonaparte.  After  the  temporary  disturb- 
ance caused  by  the  conspiracy  which  had  just  failed, 
public  business  was  resumed  with  more  activity  than 
ever.  The  sittings  of  the  Council  of  State  became 
increasingly  interesting  from  the  various  discus- 
sions that  took  place  on  different  branches  of  the 
Administration.  Amid  the  general  activity,  I  too 
found  myself  busier  than  I  had  hitherto  been.  The 
First  Consul  appointed  me  one  of  the  Assistant  Re- 
porters of  the  Councillor  of  State  charged  with  the 


384      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

National  Domains,  and  in  that  capacity  I  was 
enabled  to  get  justice  done  in  the  cases  of  several 
citizens  who  had  been  deprived  of  their  property  by 
the  misapplication  of  the  emigration  laws.  Shortly 
afterwards,  I  and  five  of  my  colleagues  were  em- 
ployed in  makingeliminations  from  the  lists  of  emigres, 
in  virtue  of  the  decree  of  the  28th  Yendemiaire. 

"  The  arrival  of  the  Austrian  Minister,  Count  von 
Cobentzel,  at  the  Congress  of  Lune'ville  was  made 
known  in  the  beginning  of  Brumaire  (end  of  October), 
and  added  to  the  general  satisfaction  afforded  by  the 
recent  acts  of  the  Government.  So  soon  as  Joseph 
Bonaparte  was  informed  that  the  Austrian  nego- 
tiator was  on  his  way,  he  set  out  to  join  him  at 
Luneville.  But  he  met  him  on  the  road,  going  to 
Paris,  without  having  stopped  at  Lune'ville.  The 
two  Ministers  entered  the  same  carriage,  and 
Joseph  Bonaparte,  retracing  his  steps,  returned  to 
Paris  with  Count  von  Cobentzel.  They  arrived 
on  the  8th  Brumaire  (October  30).  This  friendly 
proceeding  and  the  confidence  that  seemed  to  be 
already  established  between  the  two  negotiators 
were  apparently  good  omens  for  the  issue  of  the 
conference.  But  I  was  speedily  undeceived  by  a 
few  words  from  Joseph  Bonaparte.  Count  von 
Cobentzel  liad  come  without  any  positive  authori- 
sation from  his  Court,  and  it  was  only  the  fact  that 
M.  de  Lucchesini,   the  Russian   .Minister,  had  come 


COUNT   VON  COBENTZEL.  385 

direct  to  Paris  without  stopping  at  Luneville, 
that  had  induced  him  to  come  there  also.  And 
moreover,  although  he  had  been  received  with 
cordiality  which  excited  M.  de  Lucchesini's  jealousy, 
he  promptly  repented  of  his  journey  to  Paris,  which 
had  been  undertaken  in  ignorance  of  the  invasion  of 
Tuscany  by  the  French  troops.  He  learned  the  fact 
in  Paris  ;  and  his  presence  there  became  embarrassing 
in  consequence.  In  reality  affairs  were  not  so  ad- 
vanced as  it  was  hoped,  and  as  the  First  Consul 
wished  us  to  believe.  Count  von  Cobentzel  made 
a  formal  announcement  that  he  had  only  powers  to 
treat  in  common  with  England ;  to  this  Joseph 
Bonaparte  replied  that  he  had  none  on  his  side 
except  to  treat  separately,  and  that  he  must  de- 
cline all  communication  with  Sir  Thomas  Grrenville, 
who  had  been  designated  by  the  English  Govern- 
ment, unless  a  naval  armistice  were  concluded,  as 
a  necessary  preliminary  to  the  admission  of  the 
English  negotiator.  The  question  was  further  com- 
plicated by  the  intervention  of  M.  de  Lucchesini, 
speaking  for  the  Cabinet  of  St.  Petersburg,  which 
insisted  strongly  on  the  integral  restoration  of  the 
King  of  Sardinia.  It  was  feared  that  the  resolution 
of  Paul  I.  on  this  point  would  hinder  the  progress 
of  the  negotiations.  Bonaparte  having  already  dis- 
posed, so  to  speak,  of  Piedmont,*  could  not  undo 
*  By  a  decree  of  the  30th  Fructidor,  year  VIII.  (Sept.  17,  1800) 
VOL.    I.  2    C 


386      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

what  had  been  so  recently  effected,  and  would 
only  hold  out  some  hope  of  an  indemnity  in  Italy 
for  the  King  of  Sardinia.  This  was  a  difficult 
expedient,  and  one  which  must  be  impracticable, 
so  long  as  the  Cisalpine  Republic,  which  had 
been  restored  after  the  victory  of  Marengo,  should 
be  in  existence.  Those,  therefore,  who  were  at 
all  in  the  secrets  of  the  Government  foresaw  a 
renewal  of  hostilities,  and  were  convinced  that 
the  Luneville  negotiations  could  make  no  progress 
until  the  issue  of  the  campaign  about  to  be  opened 
should  be  decided  in  favour  of  either  France  or 
Austria. 

Count  von  Cobentzel  did  not  prolong  his  stay  in 
Paris  beyond  a  few  days.  He  set  out  for  Luneville 
on  the  18th  Brumaire  (November  4),  and  Joseph 
Bonaparte  started  on  the  same  day  for  the  same 
destination.  This  resolution  was  arrived  at  after 
a  discussion,  held  in  Joseph  Bonaparte's  presence, 
between  the  First  Consul  and  Count  von  Cobentzel, 
and  during  which  the  negotiation  was  nearly  broken 
off.  The  principal  difficulty  had  arisen  from  Count 
von  Cobentzel's  formal  refusal  to  treat  without  the 


the  First  Consul  had  annexed  all  that  portion  of  Piedmont 
which  was  Bituated  beyond  the  Sesia  to  the  Cisalpine  Republic 
He  had  not  pronounced  on  the  fate  of  the  rest  of  the  country,  but 
it  was  evident  that  h< •  would  novcr  consent  to  restore  it  to  its 
formor  rulers. 


COUNT   VON  COBENTZEL.  387 

concurrence  of  England,  while  France,  on  the  con- 
trary, insisted  on  treating  separately.  The  First 
Consul  was  very  impatient  during  this  interview. 
"  If  you  have  nothing  more  to  say,"  he  ex- 
claimed, addressing  Count  von  Cobentzel,  "  you  may 
return  as  quickly  as  you  came." 

It  appeared,  moreover,  that  the  Count  had  more 
extended  powers  than  he  admitted,  since  at  Lune- 
ville  he  consented  to  open  negotiations  without 
the  concurrence  of  England.  It  is  true,  however, 
that  they  proceeded  very  slowly  at  first. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  this  interview 
had  taken  place  I  saw  Madame  Bonaparte.  She, 
like  myself,  felt  but  little  confidence  in  the  success 
of  the  negotiations,  and  she  told  me  that  Count  von 
Cobentzel  had  written  to  her,  complaining  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  been  treated  by  the  First 
Consul.     What  could  she  do  in  the  matter  ? 

While  Bonaparte  was  assuming  that  haughty 
attitude  towards  the  foreign  Powers,  which  for  a 
long  time  was  tolerated,  on  account  of  his  greatness 
and  glory,  by  Kings  who  had  become  his  flatterers, 
internal  discussions  in  his  family  were  leading  up 
to  the  scandalous  quarrels  which  subsequently  took 
place  between  the  brothers,  and  produced  such 
disastrous  results. 

A  pamphlet  published  in  the  beginning  of 
Brumaire,  under  the  title  of  "  Parallele  entre  Ce'sar, 

2  c  2 


388      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


Cromwell,  Monk  et  Bonaparte,"  and  which  was  very 
widely  circulated,  had  made  a  great  sensation.  It 
was  not  easy  to  detect  the  aim  of  the  author  at  first ; 
in  fact,  it  was  only  on  carefully  studying  it  to 
the  end  that  its  meaning  became  apparent,  and  the 
reader  perceived  that  France  was  warned  of  the 
risk  she  was  running  by  giving  up  the  inheritance 
of  Bonaparte  to  the  Generals  and  the  military. 
The  writer  did  not,  however,  point  out  the  precise 
remedy  for  this  evil,  but  it  was  evident  that  his 
principal  object  was  to  indicate  one  of  the  First 
Consul's  brothers.  The  style,  the  affectation  of  the 
antitheses,  and  especially  the  exclamation  on  page 
14,  "  Where  is  he,  the  successor  to  Pericles  ? ' 
caused  the  authorship  of  this  pamphlet  to  be  attri- 
buted to  Lucien  Bonaparte.* 

Popular  feeling  was  not  yet  sufficiently  favourable 
to  the  views  it  put  forth  to  receive  it  well.  It 
attacked  the  military,  whom  it  was  the  First  Consul's 
interest  to  conciliate,  and  even  supposing  that 
in  his  heart  he  did  not  dislike  that  publication, 
since  it  tended  to  familiarise  the  people  with  certain 

*  In  four  days  this  pamphlet  went  thremgh  two  editions. 
In  the  first  wero  these  words,  page  16:  "You  may  fall  once 
more   under    the    dominion    of    foreigners,    under    the   yoke  of 

S "  an  abbreviation  which   was  interpreted  as  meaning 

Si  eyes.  In  tho  second  edition  tho  abbreviation  had  disap- 
peared, and  was  replaced  by  tho  words  "  Under  the  yoke  of 
the  military,"  which  gavo  rise  to  tho  belief  that  in  tho  first  the 
phrase  Bhould  have  been  read  "  Under  the  yoke  of  soldiers." 


A   REMARKABLE  PAMPHLET.  389 

words,  which  until  recently  would  have  greatly- 
offended  them,  he  yet  thought  it  advisable  to  ex- 
press dissatisfaction.  "  It  was  a  work,"  he  said  to 
Roederer,  "  of  which  he  himself  had  suggested  the 
idea,  but  whose  concluding  pages  were  written  by 
a  madman."  * 

This   circumstance,  added  to  the   universal   com- 
plaints of  Lucien  Bonaparte's  administration,  made 
the  First  Consul    decide  on   removing   his   brother 
from  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  and  sending  him 
out   of  France.     He   was   despatched   to   Spain   as 
Ambassador    Extraordinary   under   the    pretext   of 
important  interests  to  be  treated  of  with  that  Power. 
There  was,  however,  nothing  to  justify  the  belief  that 
the  political  relations  between  the  two  States  were 
of  sufficient  gravity  to  require  such  a  measure,  and 
in  fact  Lucien's  mission  served  only  to  enable  him  to 
acquire  immense  wealth,  which  he  wrung  from  the 
weakness  and  pusillanimity  of  the  Queen  of  Spain  and 
her  favourite  Don  Manuel  Godoy,  to  whom  he  sold 
Peace.     No  one  was  deceived  about  the  real  motive 
for  this  measure.     On  the  day  that  it  became  public 
(16th  Brumaire)  I  heard  that  it  had  been  adopted 
in    consequence   of    an    angry   altercation    between 

*  It  is  certain  that  Bonaparte  frequently  said,  "  If  I  were  to 
die  quietly  in  my  bed,  with  time  to  make  my  will,  I  would 
advise  the  French  nation  not  to  choose  a  soldier  for  my 
successor. 


390      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


Lucien  Bonaparte   and  Fouche,  in  the  presence   of 
the  First   Consul.     Fouche'  reproached  Lucien  with 
his     conduct,    his     extortions,    his     immoral     way 
of    life,    his   orgies    with    actresses,    among   others, 
Mademoiselle  Mezerai.     Lucien  retaliated  on  Fouche' 
with    his    revolutionary    doings,    the    bloodshed   of 
which   he    had   been   the   cause,   the   tax   he    had 
imposed  on  the  gaming  tables,  and  the  money  he 
made  by  it.     After  thus  mutually  rendering  justice 
to  each  other,  they  came  to  abuse,  and  the  history  of 
the  pamphlet  played  a  great  part  in   the  quarrel. 
The    First    Consul    took   no    share    in    this     scan- 
dalous scene,  which  occurred  on  the  12th  Brumaire 
(Nov.    3).     During    the  whole  of  it    he    remained 
absolutely  silent,  and  the  antagonists  were  dismissed, 
ignorant    which    of  the    two   had   prevailed.      But 
Fouche,  well  knowing  he  had  gone  too  far  in  the 
game  to    allow  his    adversary   the    upper    hand,  by 
which  he  would  be  utterly  ruined,  resorted  to  a  new 
expedient.     He  worked,  or  caused  others  to  work,  on 
General  Moreau,  who  was  on  the  point  of  taking  the 
command  of  the  armies  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube. 
He  made  him  feel  that  on  him,  as  a  General  equally 
illustrious    by   his    victories    and  honourable    in   his 
character,  the    task   devolved    of   telling    the  whole 
truth    to    the    First    Consul,    and    inducing    him    to 
sacrifice  his  brother.     Moreau  consented  to  this  step, 
lie  represented  to  Bonaparte   the  discontent  of  the 


LUCIE N  AND  FOUCHE.  391 

army,  his  fear  of  being  unable  to  cope  with  it,  the 
bad  effect  that  had  been  produced  by  a  publication 
in  which  the  military  were  openly  insulted,  and 
the  probability  that  the  First  Consul  himself  would 
be  believed  to  give  it  a  tacit  approval,  if  he  abstained 
from  punishing  the  author. 

Immediately  after  this  conference  Lucien's  de- 
parture was  determined  on.  He  was  succeeded  at 
the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  by  Chaptal.  Madame 
Bacciochi  told  me  that  she  had  used  her  best  en- 
deavours with  her  brother  to  persuade  him  to  select 
me ;  but  this  step,  which  was  taken  without  my 
knowledge,  resulted  in  nothing.  The  First  Consul 
intended  me  at  that  time  for  a  very  different 
mission,  one  which  I  could  not  look  upon  as  a 
favour,  although  it  was  bestowed  on  me  as  a  mark 
of  confidence. 

On  the  22nd  Brumaire  I  was  passing  the  evening 
at  the  First  Consul's  house.  He  took  me  aside,  and 
after  a  long  conversation,  he  proposed  that  I  should 
return  to  Corsica.  His  intention,  he  said,  was  to 
suspend  the  authority  of  the  Constitution  in  that 
island,  and  to  entrust  me  with  the  government 
daring  its  suspension.  No  mission  could  be  less 
agreeable  to  me,  and  yet  it  was  not  in  my  power  to 
decline  it.  I  ventured  to  raise  some  objections  on 
the  score  of  my  insufficiency  to  confront  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  task,  but  they  were  not  admitted,  and 


392      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

I  perceived  that  I  should  not  escape  from  my  desti- 
nation unless  some  unexpected  event,  which  might 
alter  the  decision  of  the  First  Consul,  should  occur. 
This  hope  was  not  realised. 

Meanwhile  the  conference  had  been  opened  at 
Luneville,  and  dragged  slowly  along,  making  no  real 
progress.  Girardin,  who  had  been  on  a  visit  for 
some  days  with  Joseph  Bonaparte,  returned  to  Paris 
at  the  end  of  February,  and  from  what  he  told  us 
we  lost  all  hope  of  peace.  Every  preparation  was 
therefore  made  for  war ;  there  was  even  some 
question  of  Bonaparte's  departure  for  the  German 
Army.  But  he  soon  abandoned  this  intention,  and 
although  General  Moreau,  who  had  repented  of  his 
share  in  the  18th  Brumaire,  was  on  the  coldest 
terms  with  the  First  Consul,  it  was  on  him  that  the 
choice  of  the  Government  fell. 

Public  opinion  had  anticipated  that  choice.  In 
the  midst  of  this  state  of  expectation  and  suspense 
the  Session  of  the  Legislative  Body  was  about  to 
open.*  The  Council  of  State  was  actively  employed 
in  the  preparation  of  the  laws  that  were  to  be 
presented  in  the  course  of  the  Session,  and  as  the 
First  Consul  was  always  present  at  its  sittings,  the 
debates  were  rendered  highly  interesting,  because 
the  share  he  bore  in  them,  and  the  opinions  which 
he  put  forward.  I  will  mention  some  of  these,  which 
*  The  opening  was  fixed  for  the  1st  Friuiairo  (Nov.  22). 


AN  INTERESTING   DEBATE.  393 

struck  me  particularly,  either  by  their  singularity  or 
by  their  disclosure  of  his  secret  views. 

In  the  sitting  of  the  27th  Brumaire  (Nov.  18)  the 
reports  of  the  various  Ministers  on  the  state  of  their 
department  were  given  in.  These  reports  were  to 
serve  as  a  basis  to  the  exposition  of  the  general  state 
of  the  Republic,  which  the  Government  intended  to 
have  read  on  the  approaching  opening  of  the 
Legislative  Session.*  The  Minister  of  the  Navy  had 
inserted  in  his  report  a  commendation  of  the  conduct 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  He  de  France  (Mauritius), 
and  of  the  He  de  la  Re'union  (Bourbon),  who,  amid 
so  many  political  storms,  had  remained  faithful  to 
the  metropolis.  In  concluding  his  panegyric,  he 
added  that  it  was  a  duty  to  indemnify  the  in- 
habitants of  these  islands  for  the  reproaches  which 
the  "  prejudices "  of  the  former  Government  (the 
Directory)  had  often  caused  to  be  addressed  to 
them.j"  The  word  "prejudices"  gave  offence  to 
Truguet.|     He  rose  to  speak,  not  only   in  defence 

*  This  exposition,  very  well  drawn  up  by  Consul  Le- 
brun,  was  published  in  the  '  Moniteur '  of  the  2nd  Frimaire, 
year  IX. 

f  The  inhabitants  of  the  Isles  of  France  and  Bourbon  had 
refused  to  receive  tbe  Commissioners  sent  them  by  the  Directory, 
and  also  refused  to  adopt  the  legislation  which  gave  freedom  to 
the  negroes.  The  two  colonies  were  thenceforth  regarded  as  in 
a  state  of  counter-revolution. 

|  Admiral  Truguet,  at  that  time  a  Councillor  of  State,  one  of 
the  most  violent  demagogues  of  the  Revolution. 


394      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


of  the  Executive  Directory,  which  he  said  had 
governed  our  colonies  in  a  truly  Republican  spirit, 
but  in  censure  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  islands, 
who,  he  asserted,  deserved  no  praise ;  and  he 
declared  himself  plainly  for  the  suppression  of  the 
paragraph.  Barbe-Marbois,*  warmly  supported  it, 
and  maintained  that  by  refusing  admittance  to  the 
Commissioners  who  had  been  sent  to  them  by  the 
preceding  Government,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Isles 
of  France  and  of  Reunion  had  simply  preserved 
themselves  from  the  misfortune  which  had  fallen 
upon  the  rest  of  our  colonies.  Truguet  replied  with 
some  heat,  and  the  discussion  was  degenerating  into 
personalities  when  the  First  Consul  began  to  speak. 

He  highly  praised  the  conduct  of  the  inhabitants  ; 
he  protested  that,  for  his  part,  he  thought  nothing 
more  absurd  than  a  system  of  general  philanthropy, 
which,  under  pretext  of  bestowing  liberty  on  a  class 
of  men  of  a  different  colour  from  ourselves,  had  in 
fact  made  them  masters  of  the  small  number  of  whites 
against  whom,  it  was  clear,  they  would  take  up  arms 
on  receiving  so  fatal  a  gift.  He  said  that  between 
the  sad  alternative  of  being  slaves  or  owning  slaves, 
there  could  be  no  hesitation,  and  that  it  must  always 
be  better  to  be  the  masters.  He  quoted  the  army  of 
the  East;  he  certainly  knew  of  no  troops  more  loyal 

*  A  Councillor  of  State,   very  much   devoted  to  the   First 
Consul,  but  with  a  strung  leaning  towards  Koyalism. 


BONAPARTE'S  SPEECH.  395 

than  they,  but  if  they  were  asked  to-morrow  to  free 
the  slaves  who  inhabited  the  country  they  now 
occupied,  they  would  begin  by  hanging  those  who 
brought  them  such  a  proposition,  and  they  would 
do  well. 

He  was  not  acquainted,  he  continued,  with  the 
slaves  of  America  and  the  Indies,  but  he  had  seen 
those  of  Egypt,  of  the  Desert  of  Darfour,  of  the  bank 
of  the  Euphrates,  and  of  the  Eed  Sea,  and  among 
them  all  he  had  seen  but  brute  beasts  whose  heads 
were  cut  off  at  a  sign  from  the  Pacha  or  the  police- 
officer,  and  that  he  himself  had  felt  the  indispen- 
sable necessity  of  retaining  as  a  measure  of  police  a 
custom  from  which  he  had  at  first  revolted.  He  ended 
his  discourse  with  general  reflections  on  Revolutions 
and  on  the  danger  of  taking  the  various  epochs 
which  have  marked  them  as  a  stand-point,  instead  of 
taking  the  dominant  events  which  were  consented  to 
by  all :  "  Think  you,"  he  said,  addressing  himself  to 
the  whole  Council,  "  think  you  that  the  18th  Fructidor, 
the  18th  Brumaire,  even  the  10th  August  were  quite 
in  order,  and  obtained  the  consent  of  all  men ;  that 
you  wish  to  place  the  Institutions  to  which  those 
days  gave  birth,  above  other  institutions  which  have 
been  consecrated  by  time  and  custom  ?  We  have 
finished  the  Romance  of  the  Revolution,  we  must  now 
begin  its  History,  only  seeking  for  what  is  real  and 
practicable  in  the  application  of  its  principles,  and 


396      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

not  what  is  speculative  and  hypothetical.  To  follow- 
any  other  course  at  the  present  day  would  be  to 
philosophize  and  not  to  govern." 

Circumstances  which  occurred  shortly  afterwards 
gave  Bonaparte  further  opportunities  of  expressing 
noteworthy  opinions.  On  the  whole,  the  Legislative 
Body  and  the  Tribunate  had  been  actuated  since 
the  opening  of  the  Session  by  a  hostile  disposition 
towards  the  Government,  and  had  taken  every  oppor- 
tunity of  displaying  it.  The  Tribunate  especially 
was  punctiliously  severe  upon  the  slightest  errors  in 
the  projects  of  law,  and  in  the  debates  that  were  held 
in  the  presence  of  the  Legislative  Body  its  orators 
often  had  the  advantage  over  those  of  the  Council 
of  State.  The  Government  was  even  obliged  to  with- 
draw some  of  its  projects  ;  among  others  the  proposed 
laws  concerning  the  Magistrates  and  the  Municipal 
Police.  In  the  sitting  of  the  Council  on  the 
14th  Frimaire  (December  5)  the  First  Consul  corn- 
plumed  of  the  negligence  with  which  those  projects 
had  been  drawn  up.  He  said  it  was  incredible 
that  errors  so  grave  as  those  which  the  documents  in 
question  contained  should  have  escaped  the  notice  of 
the  Members  of  the  Section  of  Legislation  and  the 
sagacity  of  the  thirty  Councillors  of  State,  and  that 
for  his  part  he  would  not  have  remained  a  member 
of  the  Section  of  Legislation,  after  such  a  fault. 
Then  turning  towards  Regnault  do  St.-Jean-d'Angvly, 


A   SECOND  SPEECH.  397 

he  reproached  him  with  his  weak  defence  of  a  law  on 
the  preceding  day.*  "  You  admitted,"  said  he, "  that 
this  law  was  imperfect.  That  is  an  admission  you  must 
never  make.  You  invoked  the  union  of  powers,  you 
preached  the  doctrine  of  reconciliation  and  of  good- 
will. Miserable  means !  especially  in  circumstances 
so  trivial.  An  orator  is  always  beaten,  when  he 
thinks  himself  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  such  feeble 
expedients  as  these." 

"  Moreover,"  he  continued,  "  the  disposition  of  the 
Tribunate,  and  of  the  Legislative  Body,  is  evident. 
These  are  bodies  who,  being  uncertain  of  what  they 
really  are,  act  according  to  the  natural  tendency  of 
governing  bodies,  to  assert  their  importance  and 
make  people  talk  of  them.  They  are  the  great 
nobles,  the  blue-ribbon- wearers  of  the  Ee volution  of 
1793  ;  they  cannot  forgive  a  state  of  things  which 
has  taken  from  them  that  power,  and  those  honours 
which  they  are  always  regretting.  Public  opinion 
must  pronounce  between  them  and  us.  If  it  ever 
decides  for  them,  we  could  do  nothing,  and  must 
renounce  our  rule.  But  if  this  same  public  recog- 
nises that  the  Government  is  also  the  representative 
of  the  people,  if  it  sees  that  the  struggle  now  com- 
mencing is  the  result  only  of  wounded  vanity,  or  of 
ill-effaced  regrets  and  recollections,  then  it  is  they 
who  will  cease  to  be  anything. 

"  From  all  this,"  continued  the  First  Consul,  "  it 


398       MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

follows  that  our  line  must  be  to  make  as  few  laws 
as  possible,  and  to  do  without  all  that  are  not 
indispensable.  For  in  the  present  state  of  feeling 
I  see  nothing  that  can  reasonably  be  proposed  with 
a  certainty  of  success.  We  must  confine  ourselves 
to  the  law  on  the  Budget,  and  be  silent  respecting 
all  the  rest.  Some  day  perhaps  the  people,  who  are 
represented  by  us  as  well  as  by  the  Legislative  Body 
and  the  Tribunate,  will  perceive  that  it  is  impossible 
to  rule  a  State  when  this  diversity  exists  between 
the  principal  governing  bodies,  and  especially  when 
the  two  authorities  that  vote  the  laws  insist  that 
none  but  perfect  and  irreproachable  laws  shall  be 
presented  to  them ;  which  is  a  vain  dream,  quite 
impossible  to  realise." 

Two  days  after  this  sitting,  at  the  conclusion  of  an 
audience  given  to  the  Ambassadors,*  he  detained  the 
Members  of  the  Council  of  State,  and  returning  to 
the  same  subject,  expressed  similar  ideas.  He  made 
the  additional  remark  that  the  Tribunate  lost  much 
of  the  advantage  conferred  on  it  by  the  Constitution 
by  regarding  itself  as  instituted  merely  to  oppose  the 
(J  oven  in  lent,  and  not  to  advise  with  it  ;  thus  posing 
as  the  natural  enemy  of  the  Government,  instead  of 
an  integral  part  of  it,  and,  as  it  were,  its  mouthpiece, 

*  For  somo  tinio  past  these  audiences  had  hccn  given  with 
great  ceremony  ;  the  Senate  and  the  Stato  Council  being  present 
at  them. 


A    THIBD   SPEECH.  399 

for  the  tribune  is  the  principal  and  easiest  mode  of 
addressing  the  public,  and  leading  public  opinion 
in  the  desired  direction  for  the  preservation  of  the 
existing  order  of  things.  "  It  is  impossible,"  con- 
tinued he,  "  that  there  should  be  any  likeness 
between  the  present  order,  and  that  which  existed 
under  the  Constituent  Assembly.  The  new  power 
that  was  then  arising  had  to  struggle  with  a  power 
that  was  crumbling,  and  which  marked  regretfully 
its  own  daily  diminution.  To-day,  on  the  contrary, 
it  is  a  dethroned  power,  and  one  without  strength  of 
its  own,  that  would  attempt  to  act  against  a  vigorous 
power  able  to  dispense  with  its  help.  We  have 
sufficient  laws  to  govern  the  Republic  for  a  long 
time  yet,  without  having  recourse  to  the  Legislative 
Body,  and  we  can  do  without  it  until  the  time  when 
it  will  have  been  sifted  by  the  renewals  which  the 
Senate  has  to  make  in  it  occasionally,  dating  from 
the  present  year.  What  will  be  the  consequence, 
moreover,  of  the  inaction  in  which  we  shall  leave  it  ? 
For  another  year,  it  will  be  said  that  the  Govern- 
ment intends  to  abolish  the  Tribunate,  an  intention 
which  it  has  not,  and  cannot  have.  But  although 
such  rumours  may  bring  discredit  on  that  Body  and 
deprive  it  of  some  consideration,  which  is  not 
desirable,  it  is  better  to  run  the  risk  of  this  than  to 
have  to  fight  the  English,  the  Austrians,  the  Russians, 
the  Legislature,  and  the  Tribunate  at  the  same  time. 


400      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  3IELITO. 

These  are  too  many  enemies  for  the  Government, 
and  it  must  endeavour  to  lessen  their  number." 

He  spoke  next  of  the  excitement  that  had  been 
caused  by  a  recent  occurrence.  The  Constitutional 
Bishop  of  Morbihan  had  been  murdered  by  fanatics 
between  Quimper  and  Morlaix,  in  the  month  of  Bru- 
maire,  and  this  murder  furnished  a  text  for  decla- 
mation and  invective  against  the  restored  emigres, 
the  clergy,  and  consequently  against  the  Govern- 
ment, which  had  encouraged  the  return  of  the  first 
and  the  pretensions  of  the  second.  A  motion  was 
already  prepared  by  the  Tribunate,  which  was  to  be 
read  by  Boujoux,  one  of  its  members,  containing  a 
hostile  criticism  of  the  Government,  and  openly 
blaming  its  action  and  its  policy.  This  motion 
was  to  have  been  made  some  days  before,  on  the 
9th  Frimaire,  and  the  fear  of  being  premature  and 
imprudent  had  been  the  sole  cause  of  the  delay 
in  reading  it. 

After  informing  us  of  these  particulars,  the  First 
Consul  continued:  "They  want  me,  in  order  to 
avenge  the  assassination  of  a  priest,  to  proscribe  a 
whole  class  of  society,  to  commence  a  course  of 
severe  and  revolutionary  measures.  I  will  not  do  so; 
T  only  wish  for  law,  which  ought  to  be  sufficient  for 
the  repression  and  punishment  of  every  crime.  My 
own  life  was  attempted,  but  it  never  occurred  to  me, 
nor  was  I  asked,  to  proscribe  all  the  Jacobins  among 


BONAPARTE'S  MAXIMS.  -401 

whom  the  crime  had  been  plotted.  I  left  its  punish- 
ment to  the  ordinary  tribunals ;  and  I  shall  do  the 
same  with  the  assassins  of  Andrein,  with  this  differ- 
ence, that  they  shall  be  prosecuted  with  much  greater 
severity  than  those  who  attacked  myself."  I  shall 
bring  these  quotations  to  a  close  here,  although  at 
that  time  I  took  note  of  many  other  things.  I  have 
said  enough  to  explain  the  principles  on  which  the 
First  Consul  acted  in  the  management  of  public 
affairs.  If  we  examine  them  closely,  we  must 
give  him  credit  for  great  skill  in  the  art  of  dealing 
with  men,  and  profound  sagacity  in  the  conduct  of 
public  business.  We  also  see  that  he  professed 
maxims  of  Government  which  might  be  adopted  with 
advantage  by  princes  at  the  head  of  empires,  and 
some  of  which,  those  for  instance  relating  to  the 
murder  of  Andrein,  are  excellent.  It  would  have  been 
well  had  he  never  deviated  from  his  own  maxims. 


vol.  i.  2d 


402       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Morcau  gains  a  victory  at  Ilohenlinden  over  the  Austrians — 
Celebration  of  that  victory  in  Paris — The  Author  prepares 
for  his  journoy  to  Corsica,  but  his  departure  is  deferred  in 
consequence  of  the  attempt  of  the  3rd  Nivose — Details  of 
that  event — Its  immediate  result — Wrath  of  the  First 
Consul  with  the  Terrorists — Extra-legal  measures  proposed 
against  that  faction,  by  means  of  unconstitutional  powers 
conforred  on  the  Senate — Extraordinary  sitting  of  the 
Council  of  Stato — Eeports  by  the  Police — Dobate,  and 
decroos  of  the  Consuls  now  converted  into  a  Sonatus-Con- 
sultum — The  Police  provo  that  tho  authors  of  tho  attempt  of 
the  3rd  Nivose  belong  to  tho  Eoyalist  party,  and  arrest  tho 
real  criminals — Successful  issuo  of  the  peace  negotiations  at 
Luneville — Tho  Author  sets  out  on  his  journey,  having 
received  his  instructions  from  the  First  Consul — Dis- 
organized Btate  of  tho  south  of  Franco — Admiral  Ganteaumo 
and  his  squadron — Tho  author  loaves  Toulon  in  the  war- 
sloop  Hirondelle  and  lands  at  Calvi. 

While  the  Government  was  endeavouring  to  parry 
I  lie  blows  aimed  at  it  by  the  Tribunate,  and  to 
prepare  for  the  coming  struggle,  Victory,  still  faith- 
ful In  French  arms,  was  about  to  dispel  some  of  the 
difficull  i«'s  with  which  itseourse  was  beset.  I  iostilities 
bad   begun  ;  the  army  of  Germany  had  just  opened 


IIOHENLINDEN.  403 


the  winter  campaign,  and  on  the  11th  Frirnaire 
(September  2)  Moreau  gained  a  victory,  as  brilliant 
as  it  was  complete,  over  the  Austrians  at  Hohen- 
linden  in  Bavaria.  Thus  the  same  spot  which  had 
witnessed  the  signing  of  the  prorogation  of  the 
armistice  at  the  close  of  year  VIII.  now  gave  its  name 
to  a  memorable  battle,  which  had  most  important 
results. 

Notwithstanding  the  rivalry  between  the  two 
great  Generals,  which  was  increased  by  this 
victory,  the  First  Consul  lavished  unstinted  praise 
on  Moreau.  He  sent  him,  in  the  name  of  the 
Government,  a  pair  of  splendid  pistols  set  with 
diamonds ;  salvos  of  artillery  in  Paris  and  the  for- 
tified towns,  especially  Calais,  announced  to  England 
the  triumph  of  our  arms ;  messages  were  sent 
with  great  solemnity  to  the  Legislative  Body  and 
to  the  Tribunate.  Our  hopes  of  peace  revived, 
the  Legislative  authorities  appeared  less  adverse 
to  it,  and  the  general  aspect  of  things  was  more 
favourable.  During  this  peaceful  interval  the  First 
Consul,  reverting  to  his  plan  of  sending  me  to 
Corsica,  commanded  me  to  present  to  the  Legis- 
lative Body  the  law  which  suspended  the  autho- 
rity of  the  constitutional  government  in  that  island. 
Some  difficulties  were  raised  in  the  Tribunate,  but 
these  were  readily  disposed  of,  and  the  law  adopted 
on  the  23rd  Frirnaire  (December  14)  by  a  majority 

2  d  2 


404      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

of  two  hundred  and  sixty  against  three.  I  then 
read  to  the  Council  of  State  the  report  of  the  pro- 
posed decree,  which  was  to  define  the  extraordinary 
powers  that  I  was  to  exercise  in  virtue  of  that 
law.  It  was  adopted,  with  a  few  unimportant  mo- 
difications, and  I  prepared  to  start.  My  departure 
was,  however,  delayed  by  a  very  serious  event. 

On  the  3rd  Nivose  (December  24)  Haydn's 
Oratorio,  "  The  Creation,"  was  given  at  the  Opera, 
and  attracted  a  large  audience.  The  First  Consul 
went  to  the  Opera  House  at  about  half-past  eight. 
His  carriage  followed  that  of  Madame  Bonaparte,  and 
was  attended  by  his  ordinary  guard.  At  the  turn 
into  the  Rue  Saint-Nicaise,  the  explosion  of  a  barrel 
of  gunpowder  was  heard,  the  windows  of  the  neigh- 
bouring houses  were  smashed,  some  walls  came 
toppling  down,  and  several  of  the  passers-by  were 
killed  or  severely  injured. 

Such  was  the  story  told  me  by  Talleyrand  and 
liegnault,  whom  I  met  in  the  lobby  of  the  Opera 
I  louse.  Other  details,  more  or  less  exaggerated,  were 
added.  It  was,  however,  asserted  from  the  very 
first  that  this  explosion  was  not  the  result  of  accident, 
but  the  execution  of  a  plot  against  the  life  of  the 
First  Consul.  The  barrel  contained,  besides  a  large 
quantity  of  compressed  gunpowder,  balls  and  bits 
oi  iron  of  all  kinds,  and  was  placed  on  a  cart  which 
barred    the   way    of   Bonaparte's  carriage.     It  had 


THE   THIRD   NIVOSE.  405 

been  fired  by  a  train  of  powder.  A  miscalculation  of 
the  time  only  prevented  this  infernal  machine  from 
accomplishing  its  purpose ;  the  First  Consul  had 
already  passed  by  when  the  explosion  took  place. 
Bonaparte  remained  perfectly  cool.  On  reaching  the 
Opera  he  advanced  to  the  front  of  his  box,  and,  as  the 
great  danger  he  had  incurerd  was  as  yet  unknown 
to  the  audience,  his  presence  excited  only  the  usual 
amount  of  attention.  But  when  the  news  spread,  it 
caused  the  greatest  sensation.  All  the  disasters 
which  might  possibly  ensue  on  the  inopportune  death 
of  the  First  Consul  were  pictured  to  men's  minds, 
and  it  may  safely  be  said  that  never  before  was  his 
life  so  precious,  and  never  had  he  inspired  so  much 
interest.  The  Opera  ended  quietly,  and  many 
persons  left  the  house  in  ignorance  of  the  attempt 
on  Bonaparte's  life. 

The  following  morning  I  went  to  the  Tuileries, 
where  I  found,  as  I  had  expected,  a  great  number  of 
persons.  The  First  Consul  seemed  to  be  convinced 
that  the  plot  was  the  work  of  revolutionaries,  and 
that  this  party  had  chosen  for  its  instruments  the 
assassins  of  September  1792,  who  were  living  at 
liberty  in  Paris,  and  even  found  safety  in  the  protec- 
tion of  the  police.  In  was  in  vain  that  Fouche',  who 
was  present,  and  perhaps  already  better  informed, 
endeavoured  to  insinuate  that  the  Royalists  and  the 
emigres  might  have  had   some    hand   in  this  fresh 


406       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


conspiracy ;  he  was  not  listened  to.  It  was  admitted 
that  those  whom  he  accused  would  have  profited  by 
the  plot,  but  no  one  would  believe  they  were  its 
authors.  The  First  Consul  said  to  his  Minister, 
"  Don't  make  a  carmagnole  *  out  of  this ;  it  was 
your  Terrorists  who  did  it." 

During  the  day,  the  Section  of  the  Interior  and 
that   of  Legislation  met  to  deliberate  on  a  project 
of  law,    for   the    framing   of  a   particular   form   of 
procedure  and  instituting   exceptional  Tribunals  for 
tryiug  attempts  against  the  Government,  and  the 
life    of    the    Consuls.      The    wise    maxims     which 
Bonaparte  had  professed  in  the  affair  of  the  assas- 
sination of  the   constitutional    Bishop  of  Morbihan 
had  already  been  abandoned.     The  united  Sections 
proposed  to  refer  the  cognisance  of  crimes   of  this 
kind  to  the  special  Tribunals  which  were  to  be  esta- 
blished for  trying  the  plunderers  of  the  diligences,! 
and  also  to  give  the  Government,  by  a  measure  of 
"  High  Police,"  the  right  to  banish  any  individual 
who  might  appear  dangerous  to  public  tranquillity. 
This    was    certainly    a    great    deal    to   grant,    but 
the    First  Consul    was  so  convinced   that  the   plot, 
to  which  he  had  so  nearly  fallen  a  victim,  was  the 

*  In  llio  days  of  the  Terror  conspiracies  got  up  by  the 
police  in  order  to  invent  criminals  were  called  carmagnoles. 

|  At  this  period  robbery  of  stage  coaches  had  increased  U>  a 
frightful  extent.  Tlie  Chouans,  who  bad  not  been  subdued, 
took  pari  in  iliis  noble  war. 


THE    TIIIRD   NIVOSE.  407 

work  of  the  Terrorists,  and  that  he  had  better  profit 
by  this  opportunity  to  get  rid  of  them  altogether,  that 
he  was  by  no  means  satisfied  with  the  plan  adopted 
by  the  Sections,  and  read  in  the  Council  of  State. 
After  the  first  few  phrases  Bonaparte  announced 
distinctly  that  he  wished  them  to  draw  up  a  scheme 
for  a  special  law  to  invest  the  Government  with 
extraordinary  power,  and  not  one  which,  being  in 
accordance  with  the  more  or  less  tedious  forms  of 
justice,  would  neither  allow  of  the  immediate 
punishment  of  the  guilty,  nor  of  the  use  of  those 
strong  measures  of  High  Police,  which  it  was 
necessary  to  employ  without  hesitation  in  the  extra- 
ordinary situation  of  affairs. 

Passing  on  to  the  history  of  the  facts,  and  draw- 
ing a  picture  of  our  position,  he  spoke  as  follows  : 
"  There  are  from  four  to  five  hundred  men,  either 
in  Paris  or  scattered  over  France,  steeped  in  crime, 
without  home,  without  occupation,  and  without 
means.  These  men  form  an  army  in  constant 
action  against  the  Grovernment.  It  is  they  who  were 
the  instruments  of  the  31st  of  May,  of  the  Septem- 
ber massacres,  and  of  those  of  Versailles.  They  it 
was  who  carried  out  the  conspiracy  of  Babeuf,  and 
that  of  the  camp  of  Grenelle.  It  was  they  who 
attacked  the  Directory,  and  then  the  Government 
which  succeeded  it.  They  are  the  enemies  of  every 
form  of  order,  no  matter  what  its  principles,  of  every 


408      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

liberal  idea,    of  every  kind    of  government.     They 

exist,   and   they  are   well   known ;  they  have  their 

meetings,  and  their  information  ;  and  their  modes  of 

action  are  derived  from  their  familiarity  with  crime. 

This  horde  of  hungry  wolves  scattered  through  the 

whole  of  society,  and  everywhere  notorious  ;  branded 

on  the  forehead  with  the  mark  of  crime,  keep  alive 

a    constant   state   of    terror.      What    must  Europe 

think  of  a  Government  under  which   such  wolves 

live  and  flourish  ?     What  confidence  can  she  have  in 

a  Government  which  either  does  not  know  how  or  else 

is  not  able  to  protect  its  own  capital  ? — a  Government 

under  whose  eyes  an  infernal  plot  which  brings  ruin 

and  desolation    on    a    portion    of    the    inhabitants 

of  that   capital  is   carried   out?      It   is  impossible 

that  these  things  can  continue ;    it    is  time   to   rid 

society  of  this  scourge  ;  before  five  days  have  passed 

twenty  or  thirty  of  these  monsters  must  die,  and  two 

or    three  hundred  must  be  deported.     As    for  me, 

I   am   ready   to   take    upon    myself  all  the    weight 

and  all   the  opprobium  of  such  a  course,  for  I  see 

nothing  that  is  not  honourable  in  such  a  measure  of 

public  safety.     I  would  summon  these  men,  whose 

name  is   in  every  mouth,  before  me;  I  would  seat 

myself  in  the  curulc  chair  in  the  largest  hall   of  the 

Palace  wherein  I  dwell ;  and  in  the  presence  of  the 

whole  people,  were  it  possible  to  unite  them  in  one 

place,  I  would  condemn  them  myself,  and  dividing  the 


DIFFICULTIES   OF  THE   COUNCIL   OF  STATE.  409 

penalty  of  death  and  that  of  deportation  in  the  pro- 
portion I  have  just  indicated,  I  would  in  one  day 
avenge  the  outrages  they  have  inflicted  on  society 
and  mankind." 

After  this  speech,  which  had  been  delivered  with 
great  warmth,  opinions  were  divided.  The  difficulty 
of  framing,  and  above  all  of  obtaining  a  law, 
which  should  give  such  latitude  of  power  to 
the  Government,  investing  it  as  it  were  with  a 
Dictatorship,  led  some  of  the  members  of  the  Council 
to  entertain  an  idea  which  had  already  occurred  to 
myself,  and  which  in  my  opinion  was  more  conso- 
nant with  the  actual  state  of  things,  if  in  reality 
that  was  what  had  been  described  to  us. 

We  held  that  rather  than  corrupt  our  social 
institutions  at  their  source,  the  First  Magistrate 
of  the  Republic  should  have  acted  as  Cicero  did  on 
the  occasion  of  Catiline's  conspiracy ;  that  he  would 
have  done  better  had  he  announced  to  the  Legislative 
Body  and  the  nation  that  he  usurped  the  Dictatorship 
on  behalf  of  public  safety,  than  by  demanding  the 
means  of  exercising  it  legally.  But  as  this  opinion  was 
the  effect  of  a  momentary  impulse  rather  than  the 
outcome  of  mature  reflection,  it  was  promptly  set 
aside,  and  the  discussion  was  turning  on  the  formu- 
lation of  the  proposed  law,  when  Truguet  demanded 
leave  to  speak. 

After  much   circumlocution,   and  some   common- 


410       MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

place  remarks  on  the  facts,  he  came  to  the  point 
of  his  discourse,  which  was  that  in  the  proposed 
measures  he  could  not  discern  any  protection  against 
enemies  who  were  in  his  opinion  quite  as  dangerous 
as  those  they  openly  attacked.  He  contended  that 
emigres  and  priests  should  also  be  aimed  at.  He 
stated  that  pamphlets  were  in  circulation  which 
proved  their  desire  and  intention  to  overturn  the 
Government ;  and  that,  according  to  the  admissions 
of  Magardel,*  the  life  of  the  First  Consul  was  in  as 
much  danger  from  conspirators  of  this  sort  as  from 
the  men  of  September,  whom  he,  Truguet,  abhorred 
indeed,  but  whom  he  did  not  believe  to  be 
the  only  criminals.  Lastly,  lie  declared  that  in  his 
opinion  general  measures  were  required  which 
should  strike  at  the  emigres,  the  priests,  and  the 
Royalists,  as  well  as  at  the  Terrorists  and  the 
fanatical  revolutionaries. 

The  First  Consul  listened  to  this  speech  with  the 
greatest  impatience,  and  his  countenance  showed 
that  he  was  much  annoyed.  He  controlled  himself, 
however,  until  Truguet  had  come  to  an  end,  when 
he  burst  forth  with,  "  What  do  you  mean,  Citizen 
Truguet?  explain  yourself;  of  whom  do  you  speak? 
What  are  the  pamphlets  you  cite?     What  are  the 

*  This  Magardel,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Vendean  army,  had 
been  tried  in    Paris    by  court-martial,  ami    Bhot  a    tow    days 

Ik;  lore. 


BONAPABTE  '  PBONOUNCES:  411 

measures  you  would  have  taken  ?  Do  you  contend 
that  we  ought  to  restore  the  law  of  hostages,  persecute 
seven  or  eight  thousand  priests  who  have  returned 
on  the  faith  of  my  honour,  and  drive  from  the 
Council  of  State  and  from  the  Tribunate  all  who 
are  called  Royalists  ?  For,  if  we  are  to  believe 
the  so-called  patriots,  we  must  send  Portalis  to 
Guiana;  and  Roederer  is  a  Royalist,  also  Defermon 
himself,  and  all  the  Council,  with  two  or  three 
exceptions.  Am  I  to  send  away  all  these  honest, 
honourable,  and  enlightened  men,  and  replace  them 
by  patriots  ?  Am  I  to  seek  for  councillors  among 
the  residue  of  the  Jacobin  and  Cordeliers'  Clubs  ? 

"  Am  I  once  more  to  arouse  terror  and  alarm  in 
every  breast  ?  Am  I  to  proclaim  the  country  in 
danger  ?  Am  I  to  imitate  the  Merlins*  and  the 
Rewbels,  by  striking  indiscriminately  on  every  side  ? 
No,  never !  never  will  I  be  forced  into  such  excesses. 
I  will  not  persecute  the  priests,  I  will  not  be  per- 
suaded to  hunt  men  down  because  they  believe  in 
an  Almighty  Being,  and  in  a  religion  which  is  per- 
haps after  all  the  true  one.  I  will  never  believe  that 
a  people  can  be  ruled  or  led  without  religion.  And 
where  are  those  pressing  dangers  that  threaten  the 

*  The  reader  will  remember  that  some  mouths  earlier 
Napoleon  had  appointed  Merlin  to  one  of  the  first  places  in  the 
Magistrate  re,  and  had  given  the  government  of  Piedmont  to 
Geueral  Jourdan,  who,  the  preceding  year,  had  proclaimed 
the  country  in  dauger  in  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred. 


412       3IEM0IRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Republic  ?  What  influence  over  its  destiny  can  be 
exercised  by  a  few  more  or  less  ridiculous  pam- 
phlets, which  have  made  no  lasting  impression  ? 
Suppose  they  do  liken  me  to  Caesar  and  Cromwell, 
what  effect  can  that  have,  or  what  can  result  from 
it,  to  shake  the  established  order  that  rules  us? 
Can  I  prevent  a  fool  from  spoiling  paper  by 
comparing  me  to  Caesar  ?  Besides,  let  us,  like  states- 
men, turn  our  eyes  on  the  situation  of  France ;  was 
it  ever  more  brilliant  ?  Our  finances  are  prosperous, 
our  armies  triumphant.  Since  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolution  our  peace  at  home  has  never  been  so 
untroubled.  La  Vendee  is  quiet,  the  Chouans  are 
engaged  in  repulsing  the  English,  and  Georges 
Cadoudal*  without  any  influence  over  the  remain- 
der of  his  party  is  wandering  in  the  woods,  accom- 
panied by  seven  or  eight  men,  and  often  obliged  to 
sleep  on  board  an  English  vessel.  Those  priests 
whom  you  would  persecute  are  praying  for  me.  It 
is  true  that  brigandage  is  spreading  in  some  of  the 
<!c|>artments  ;f  but  if  the  obligation  to  end  the 
war  did  not  compel  me  to  send  all  our  disposable 
troops  beyond  the  frontiers,  brigandage  would  long 
ago   have    been    put   down   for   ever.      They    who 

*  Georges  Cadoudal,  afterwards  so  famous  for  his  plois 
against  the  life  of  tho  First  Tonsiil  in  1S<>  1,  and  who  then  had 
been  concerned  in  that  of  the  infernal  machine. 

t  Bonaparte  alluded  here  to  highway  robberies  aud  attacks 
upon  Btage-COaches. 


BONAPARTE  '  PRONOUNCES:  413 

trouble  our  peace  are  but  few  in  number,  but  we 
must  fall  on  them  without  mercy,  for  it  is  on  them 
that  obscure  and  ambitious  men,  thirsting  for  power, 
would  rely  for  help,  if  they  could  see  a  possibility  of 
executing  their  designs,  and  for  that  reason  they 
seek  to  conciliate  them  that  they  may  obtain  their 
services  in  the  event  of  another  revolution.  Unde- 
ceive yourself,  Citizen  Truguet ;  they  will  not  spare 
you  then  any  more  than  any  other.  *  Who  is  this 
Citizen  Truguet  ? '  they  will  say ;  '  a  noble,  an  admiral, 
a  Councillor  of  State ;  show  him  no  mercy  ! ' 

As  he  uttered  this  philippic,  the  voice  of  the  First 
Consul  broke ;  he  felt  he  was  losing  his  self-control, 
and  putting  on  his  hat  in  the  midst  of  an  un- 
finished sentence,  he  abruptly  closed  the  sitting  of 
the  Council,  which  had  come  to  no  decision. 

The  deliberation  on  the  proposed  law  was  resumed 
on  the  morrow,  and  continued  for  several  days, 
either  in  the  interior  of  the  Sections  of  the  Council 
of  State,  or  in  the  presence  of  the  First  Consul. 
None  of  the  proposed  alterations  satisfied  him;  he 
always  found  that  something  was  wanting  to  the 
necessities  of  the  time,  and  constantly  recurred 
to  the  ideas  he  had  so  vehemently  expressed 
to  us  at  a  preceding  meeting.  "  There  is  no 
middle  course,"  he  told  us;  " we  must  either  com- 
pletely pardon,  or  utterly  put  down."  And  as  it 
was  pointed  out  to  him  that  after  a  criminal  attempt 


414       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

which  struck  at  the  whole  people  he  had  not  the 
right  to  be  so  generous,  "  Then,"  he  replied,  "  you 
must  strike  at  the  roots,  at  the  400  brigands 
perpetually  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle.  We  must 
force  them  to  say,  '  Fortune  has  forsaken  us  ;  the 
hand  of  Fate  has  defeated  us ;  there  is  no  longer 
any  hope.'  Let  the  chief  of  the  band  fall,  the 
others  will  sink  into  obscurity,  and  you  will  restore 
to  society  ten  thousand  individuals  who,  being 
flattered  by  their  leaders  with  vague  and  delusive 
hopes,  have  put  off  until  now  the  resumption  of 
their  former  occupations." 

The  majority  agreed  with  the  First  Consul  that 
an  extraordinary  measure  was  required,  and,  indeed, 
it  could  not  be  otherwise.  We  had  the  facts  from 
the  Government  only,  and  we  could  not  doubt 
that  this  plot  was  the  work  of  those  whom  it 
accused.  But  we  always  recurred  to  the  necessity 
of  a  law.  The  difficulty  of  compiling  it,  the  danger 
of  discussing  it,  and  above  all  the  position  in  which 
the  Government  would  find  itself  if  the  law  were 
rejected,  or  adopted  by  a  feeble  majority  only, 
alarmed  us ;  and  in  truth  the  First  Consul  was  too 
wise  to  wish  to  incur  such  a  risk.  Besides,  it  was 
not  a  law  that  he  wanted  ;  a  word  from  Talleyrand, 
near  whom  I  sat  at  one  of  these  meetings,  threw 
light  on  the  designs  of  the  First  Consul.  I  had 
said    to   Talleyrand    that   if  the   chances  of  a   dis- 


THE    USE   OF   THE  SENATE.  415 

cussion  in  the  Tribunate  and  the  possible  refusal  of 
a  law  were  risks  to  be  avoided,  I  could  see  no  way 
out  of  our  difficulties,  since  an  opinion  or  debate 
of  the  Council  of  State  could  not  constitute  law,  and 
could  still  less  substitute  itself  for  a  law  that  had 
been  rejected  by  the  Legislative  Body.  "  You  are 
right,"  he  replied ;  "  but  is  there  nothing  more  than 
the  Legislative  Body  and  the  Council  of  State  ? 
What  is  the  good  of  having  a  Senate  if  we  do  not 
make  use  of  it  ?  '  I  saw  in  an  instant  all  the  sis:- 
niflcance  of  this  hint,  and  I  also  understood  whence 
it  came.  By  taking  a  portion  of  the  Legislative 
authority  away  from  the  ordinary  authorities,  by 
reserving  to  the  Senate  the  right  of  pronouncing  on 
extraordinary  questions  of  public  safety,  by  special 
acts,  the  Government  would  create  a  Body  no 
longer  inert  and  motionless,  but  one,  whose  autho- 
rity, superior  to  all  others,  would  dominate  the 
entire  constitutional  system,  and,  under  the  pretext 
of  preserving  that  system,  would  acquire  the  power 
of  modifying  it  as  the  Government  might  desire  ;  for 
the  latter,  while  giving  the  Senate  the  power  of 
framing  laws,  reserved  to  itself  the  right  of  pro- 
posing them.  The  deliberations  of  the  Senate  were 
secret ;  the  number  of  the  Senators  was  small,  and 
the  appointments  were  for  life  ;  once  gained  over,  it 
could  be  always  held  in  hand,  and  means  of  seduc- 
tion were  never  wanting.     Commanderies  would  be 


416      NEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


created  under  the  name  of  Senatorships,  endowments 
would  be  made    certain,   and    heredity  would  loom 
in  the  distance.      The  Senate,  a  cipher  up  to  this 
time,    would  soon   become   the   first   power   in   the 
State,  and  though  it  might  subsequently  exercise  its 
power  only  for  the  benefit  of  the  Government,  so 
long  as  the    Government   was  victorious,  it  would 
still  retain  enough  to  declare  the  deposition  of  the 
man  who  had  created  it.     From  this  epoch,  there- 
fore, is  to  be  dated  the  origin  of  that  singular  power 
which  gave  a  legal  existence  to  those  changes  which 
we  afterwards  witnessed,  and  which,  without  social 
convulsion,    or    revolutionary    movement,    but    by 
insensible  gradations,  transformed  a  democratic  Re- 
public   into    an    absolute    Monarchy.      We   cannot 
praise  the  acuteness  of  the  First  Consul  too  highly ; 
in   the   existing    emergency   he    saw    at   a    glance 
all    the    future    advantages    that   recourse    to    the 
Senate  would  secure  to  him,  and  by  urging  objec- 
tions   against    every    proposal    submitted    to    him, 
lie     contrived    to     bring    his     Ministers     and     the 
Council  of  State    to  acknowledge    that   they    could 
find  no  other  way  of  settling  the  difficult  question 
which   occupied  them    than  by  referring   it   to   the 
Senate. 

[t  was  decided  that  no  law  should  be  asked  for; 
and  this  resolution  was  voted  by  all  except  three 
members  of  the  Council,  viz.  Truguet,  Lacuee  and 


THE  RESOLUTION.  417 

Defermon,  who  had  all  spoken  against  it.  The 
next  day,  8th  Nivose  (December  29),  the  following 
resolution  was  taken  to  the  Consuls  : 

"  The  Council  of  State,  in  view  of  existing  circum- 
stances, is  of  opinion  : 

"  1st.  That  the  Government  ought  to  establish  a 
Military  Commission  as  judges  extraordinary  of  the 
authors  and  accomplices  of  the  attempt  of  the  3rd 
Nivose. 

"  2nd.  That  the  Government,  by  an  act  of  its 
authority,  ought  to  decree  the  deportation  of  those 
persons  whose  presence  is  a  danger  to  the  State, 
and  who  might  renew  similar  attempts. 

"  3rd.  Lastly,  that  the  Government  ought  to  in- 
form the  nation  of  this  resolution,  and  to  announce 
it  by  a  message  to  the  Legislative  Body,  the  Tribunate 
and  Conservative  Senate." 

The  Consuls  did  not  adopt  these  suggestions  ;  but, 
while  rejecting  them,  they  clearly  established  the  end 
which  they  proposed  to  attain,  and  declared  that  it 
was  necessary  to  give  to  this  step  which  was  in- 
deed unconstitutional,  yet  eminently  conservative 
of  the  Constitution,  such  a  character  as  would 
protect  it  from  all  future  attack,  in  rendering  it 
valid  by  the  approbation  of  the  conservative  Senate, 
a  Body  especially  charged  with  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Constitution.  It  was  consequently 
decreed — 

vol.  i.  2  E 


418      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


That  on  the  10th  Nivose,  or  at  latest  on  the  11th 
(January  1,  1801),  the  Consuls  should  summon  a 
special  meeting  of  the  Ministers  and  Councillors  of 
State  ;  that  the  Minister  of  Police  should  read  to 
that  assembly  a  report  on  the  necessity  of  the  mea- 
sure to  be  taken,  and  should  submit  for  inspection 
the  list  of  persons  to  be  condemned  to  deportation  ; 
that  a  short  discussion  should  follow,  and  that  the 
meeting  should  terminate  by  a  decree  of  the  Council, 
which  the  Section  of  the  Interior  would  be  charged 
to  draw  up. 

That  three  Councillors  of  State  should  immediately 
be  appointed  to  carry  to  the  Senate  the  Decree  of 
the  Council,  and  to  explain  the  motives  which  had 
determined  it. 

That  the  Senate,  being  assembled  and  fore- 
warned, should  deliberate  approbatively,  and  that 
these  various  acts  should  be  made  public,  and 
communicated  to  the  Legislative  Body  and  to  the 
Tribunate. 

Finally,  that  the  measure  should  be  carried  into 
immediate  execution. 

The  9th  Nivose  was  passed  in  preparing  the 
decree,  ami  in  the  distribution  of  parts,  and  the 
solemn  sitting  of  the  Council  of  State  was  announced 
for  the  10th  Nivose  at  midday.  But  in  this  short 
interval,  a  rumour  spread  that,  from  information 
obtained  concerning   tho   affair   of  the  .'>rd  Nivose, 


A  NEW  SCENT.  419 


suspicion  of  the  crime  was  thrown  on  a  very- 
different  party  from  that  which  the  police  were 
pursuing  so  zealously ;  that  there  was  reason  to 
believe  that  England  had  paid  the  cost  of  the  at- 
tempt, and  employed  the  Royalists  of  the  Vendee  in 
its  execution. 

I  refused  to  believe  in  this  alleged  informa- 
tion ;  I  was  inclined  to  think  that  the  rumour  was 
the  work  of  the  police  themselves,  who  were  en- 
deavouring to  mislead  opinion  by  turning  the  public 
anger  from  the  Jacobins,  towards  whom  they  had 
always  a  leaning,  and  directing  it  towards  the 
Royalists,  emigres  and  priests,  whom  they  hated  at 
that  time  with  a  mortal  hatred.  Under  this  convic- 
tion, I  arrived  at  the  Council  of  State  on  the  10th 
Nivose,  before  the  hour  appointed  for  the  general 
sitting,  and  I  found  the  Sections  of  the  Legislation 
and  of  the  Interior  assembled.  Real,  one  of  the 
members  of  the  former,  spoke  very  strongly.  He 
asserted  his  conviction  that  the  attempt  had  not  been 
made  by  the  Terrorists,  but  by  the  Chouans,  and  he 
declared,  with  reason,  that  a  measure  directed  against 
a  class  of  men  in  which  the  real  criminals  were  not 
comprised  was  a  cruel  injustice.  I  replied  that  I  was 
quite  of  his  opinion,  if  it  could  be  proved  to  me  that 
the  crime  was  the  work  of  any  other  class.  "  But," 
I  asked  him,  "  how  can  we  believe  that  ?  How  can 
we  suppose  that  the  Government  would  leave  us  in 

2  e  2 


420       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MEIITO. 


an  error,  which  would  have  such  fatal  consequences." 
To  my  objections  Real  replied  that  he  was  certain 
of  what  he  advanced,  and  this  he  maintained  with 
much  warmth.  The  debate  turned  on  too  delicate  a 
question  to  be  conducted  for  any  length  of  time  with 
coolness.  Animated,  yet  moderate,  in  the  begin- 
ning, it  soon  degenerated,  on  the  part  of  Real,  into 
personalities,  which  were  indeed  freely  returned 
by  his  opponents,  but  which  led  to  nothing.  Each 
man  retained  his  own  opinion  or  prejudice.  At 
two  o'clock,  in  the  heat  of  the  discussion,  it  was 
brought  to  an  end  by  an  announcement  that  the 
Assembly  of  the  Council  of  State  was  postponed  to 
the  next  day,  and  the  two  sections  separated.  We 
were  informed  at  the  same  time  that  the  Senate,  in 
an  extraordinary  sitting  held  the  evening  before, 
had  adopted  the  plan  already  indicated,  and  that  a 
deputation  from  that  body  had  waited  on  the  First 
Consul  at  eleven  in  the  evening  to  inform  him  of  the 
fact.  Moreover,  it  had  been  agreed  that  the  act 
demanded  from  the  Senate  should  be  called  a 
'  senatus-consultuin.'  Bonaparte  himself  had  pro- 
posed this  title,  and  his  profound  political  foresight 
already  perceived  all  the  profit  he  might  gain  from 
the  imv.1  procedure  which  he  was  introducing  into 
the  Legislative  system.  This  device  of  the  senatus- 
consultuin, — so  do  words  influence  things — by  placing 
it    easily    above    the    ordinary    laws     and    consular 


THE  <  SENATUS-CONSULTUM:  421 


decrees,  made  the  Senate  a  constituent  Power,  in- 
stead of  a  body  of  Magistrates,  merely  guardians 
of  the  Constitution  against  the  usurpations  of 
either  the  legislative  or  the  executive  authority. 
It  is  probable  that  the  introduction  of  the  senatus- 
consultum  into  the  legislation  was  regarded  by 
Bonaparte  as  so  important  to  the  success  of  his 
ulterior  views  that  he  was  eager  to  seize  the  oppor- 
tunity of  obtaining  the  first  exercise  of  it,  and  in- 
sisted on  it,  although  he  knew  that  such  an  act  was  not 
necessary,  and  that  it  fell  on  innocent  men,  innocent, 
at  least,  of  the  particular  crime  imputed  to  them. 

It  was  not  until  long  afterwards  that  I  perceived 
all  this.  At  the  time  I  discerned  in  the  perseverance 
with  which  the  Government  prosecuted  the  remaining 
Jacobins  and  Terrorists,  only  a  proof  of  its  conviction 
that  they  were  participators  in  the  attempt  of  the 
3rd  Nivose.  I  felt  relieved,  therefore,  to  know  that 
if  unconstitutional  means  were  being  employed  to 
punish  the  authors  of  the  crime,  at  least  they  were 
not  being  punished  with  deliberate  injustice,  and  I 
had  no  conscientious  scruples  when,  on  its  being 
submitted  to  the  Council  of  State,  I  voted  in  favour 
of  the  proposition. 

The  extraordinary  sitting  took  place  on  the  11th 
Nivose,  year  IX.  (January  1,  1801).  It  was  ojDened 
at  3  p.m.     All  the  Ministers  were  present. 

After   a   brief  explanation   of  the   object   of  the 


422      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

meeting,  the  First  Consul  called  upon  Maret,  the 
Secretary  of  State,  to  read  two  reports. 

The  first  had  been  presented  by  Dubois,  the 
Prefect  of  Police.  It  contained  particulars  of  all 
the  attempts  that  had  been  made  on  the  life  of  the 
First  Consul,  from  the  26th  Messidor  of  the  previous 
year  (July  15,  1800).  The  conspiracy  to  which 
particular  attention  was  drawn  was  hatched  by  one 
Chevalier,  an  enterprising  man,  not  wanting  in 
ability.  He  had  been  employed  at  Meudon,  where, 
under  the  National  Convention,  an  attempt  had  been 
made  to  utilise  a  former  discovery  in  the  fabrication 
of  inflammable  cannon-balls.*  In  this  employment 
he  had  acquired  certain  knowledge  which  he  pro- 
posed to  apply  to  the  construction  of  a  machine 
which  might  be  made  to  explode,  and  upset  the 
First  Consul's  carriage  on  the  road  to  Malmaison.f 
The  machine  was  to  have  been  placed  on  one  of  the 
little  go-carts  used  for  children  ;  but  the  plot  was 
discovered,  and  Chevalier  and  his  accomplices 
were  arrested  on  the  J  1th  Brumaire,  year  IX. 
(November  5,  1800). 

Since  that  time  some  attempts  had  been  made  to 

*  Various  experiments  in  the  use  of  this  kind  of  cannon-hall 
on  board  men-of-war  had  heen  made  at  Versailles  in  1785, 
under  the  Ministry  of  M.  de  ( 'astries. 

f  The  First  Consul  frequently  went  to  this  country  house 
which  Mi  lame  Bonaparte  had  bought,  and  which  had  heen 
greatly  beautified. 


PLOTS  AND  PLOTTERS.  423 

create  disturbance  among  the  working  men  of  the 
capital,  but  they  had  failed.  At  last  the  conspiracy 
of  the  3rd  Nivose  broke  out.  Its  authors  were  not 
yet  positively  known,  but  there  was  every  reason  to 
believe  that  they  belonged  to  the  same  class  as  the 
former  conspirators.  The  report  ended  with  some 
details  of  the  fatal  consequences  of  the  explosion 
of  the  machine  in  the  Rue  Saint-Nicaise.  Eight 
or  ten  persons  had  either  been  killed  on  the  spot 
or  had  since  died  of  their  injuries.  Forty-six 
houses  in  the  neighbourhood  had  been  seriously 
damaged. 

The  second  report  was  drawn  up  by  a  private 
agent,  whose  name  did  not  come  out.  This  agent 
was  in  communication  with  all  the  extreme  party, 
and  the  following  is  a  concise  analysis  of  his 
report : — 

A  society  which  included  several  persons  whose 
names  had  figured  in  the  course  of  the  Revolution,* 
directed  all  the  plots  against  the  life  of  the  First 
Consul. 

In  Prairial,  year  VIII. ,  they  had  unsuccessfully 
tempted  the  Grenadiers  of  the  Consular  Guard  to 
desert.  Since  then,  when  Bonaparte  left  France  for 
Italy,  they  had  flattered  themselves  he  would  never 

*  The  names  given  in  the  report  are  Desforges,  Arena,  Pepin 
d'Eyverchelt,  Talon,  Jumillard,  Laignelot,  Ceracchi  and 
Gombault-Lachaise. 


424      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

return,  and  at  a  dinner  at  the  house  of  Gombault- 
Lachaise  they  had  decided  on  their  course  of  action, 
should  the  desired  event  take  place.  After  they  had 
drank  to  the  death  of  the  tyrant,  it  was  agreed  that 
at  first  they  would  wear  the  white  cockade,  so  as  to 
attract  the  more  credulous  of  the  Royalists,  and 
prevent  the  more  clear-sighted  from  escaping  them 
by  leaving  Paris,  that  for  forty-eight  hours  the 
capital  should  be  given  over  to  plunder,  and  that 
under  favour  of  this  plunder  they  would  rid  the 
city  of  the  Royalists.  The  return  of  the  First  Consul 
after  Marengo  had  disconcerted  them.  The  conspira- 
tors then  attempted  a  fresh  plot  in  the  month  of 
Messidor.  Thev  were  to  find  assassins  amonjr  a 
company  of  Grenadiers  belonging  to  a  demi-brigade 
that  had  just  arrived  in  Paris.  Bonaparte  was 
informed  of  this ;  but  being  fully  confident  in  those 
troops,  he  ordered  a  review  for  the  very  day  on 
which  the  plot  was  to  be  carried  into  effect,  and 
placed  himself  in  the  direction  of  the  fire. 

This  plan  having  failed,  they  looked  about  for 
a  French  Brutus.  Moses  P>ayle*  undertook  the  task 
iiikI  introduced  a  man  named  Mctgen.  He  was 
equipped,  furnished  with  a  small  sum  of  money, 
and  armed  with  ;i  dagger.     lie  took  his  place  in  the 

*  Mosi  s  Bayle  had  been  a  Member  of  the  National  Convention, 
and  remarkable  for  his  revohrl  ionary  excesses.  ]  Io  had  served  in 
the  Directory  Police,  under  Bourguignon  and  even  under  i'ouche, 
until  L800. 


ABORTIVE  CONSPIRACIES.  425 


Grand  Tier  of  the  Theatre  Francais  on  the  evening 
when  Lafont  played  the  part  of  Nero  in  Britannicus 
for  the  first  time,  but  the  First  Consul  did  not  go  to 
the  theatre,  and  the  attempt  was  adjourned. 

These  unsuccessful  plots  occupied  the  conspirators 
until  Fructidor.  In  the  course  of  that  month  Gom- 
bault-Lachaise  invented  a  machine  which  would 
throw  a  ball  to  a  distance  of  three  hundred  feet,  and 
this  was  to  be  employed  on  the  1st  Vendemiaire,  year 
IX.  They  hired  a  room  with  windows  looking  out 
on  the  Place  des  Yictoires,  whence  they  intended  to 
turn  the  machine  on  the  First  Consul  during  the 
funeral  ceremonies  in  honour  of  Generals  Desaix  and 
Kleber.  But  the  general  arrangements  and  the 
decorations  of  the  monument  erected  on  the  Place 
prevented  the  execution  of  the  project. 

They  also  contrived  to  effect  an  entrance  into  Mal- 
maison  during  the  same  month,  and  reconnoitred  the 
quarries  on  the  road  thither,  but  dared  not  venture 
on  the  deed. 

In  Vende'miaire  they  constructed  another  machine 
containing  a  kind  of  Greek  fire,  and  tried  an  experi- 
ment with  it  on  the  25th  of  that  month  (October  17), 
behind  the  buildings  of  the  hospital  of  La  Salpe'triere. 
Chevalier  had  worked  the  machine,  and  it  seems 
that  it  served  as  a  model  for  the  one  he  subsequently 
made,  and  which  was  seized  on  the  14th  Brumaire, 
when  he  was  arrested. 


42G       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Besides  all  this,  they  had  drawn  up  the  plan  of 
a  Constitution  for  France,  after  the  death  of  the 
First  Consul.  One  Didier,  probably  the  same  who 
was  accused  under  the  Directory  at  the  time  of  the 
Babeuf  conspiracy,  was  designated  as  Mayor  of 
Paris. 

These  attempts  were  the  work  of  an  association 
which  called  itself  The  Company  of  Tyrannicides,  and 
whose  members  were  bound  by  a  special  oath. 

When  these  two  Reports  had  been  read,  Fonche, 
the  Minister  of  Police,  rose  to  speak. 

He  presumed  that  the  Government  must  now 
be  undeceived  regarding  the  system  of  generosity 
it  had  hitherto  pursued  towards  the  scoundrels  who 
were  threatening  it.  "  Since  September  1702,"  said 
he,  "  the  same  individuals  have  always  been  con- 
spiring against  every  kind  of  Government."  He 
recapitulated  their  devices  from  the  establishment 
of  the  Consulate  until  the  plot  of  the  3rd  Nivose, 
u  a  plot  the  thread  of  which  is  in  the  hands  of  the  police, 
who  will  supply  such  information  to  justice  as  will  keep 
it  on  the  right  track."  He  divided  these  men  into  two 
classes  ;  those  who  with  their  own  hands  had  shed 
Mood,  and  those  who  were  implicated  whether  as 
instigators  or  approvers.  The  first  only  he  proposed 
to  treal  with  severity. 

T1m>  Minister  next  recapitulated  the  various  con- 
spiracies mentioned  in  the  report  of  the  Prefect  of 


A   BLACK    TEST  427 


Police,  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  secret  agent,  and 
gave  further  and  more  precise  details  concerning 
them.  Lastly,  after  naming  the  principal  accom- 
plices, he  concluded  hy  proposing  the  banishment 
from  Paris  and  from  France  of  all  the  Septembrisists 
or  Terrorists,  and  by  reducing  his  motion  to  four 
principal  heads. 

1st.  The  accused  to  be  brought  before  a  military 
tribunal. 

2nd.  The  Septembrisists  to  be  deported. 

3rd.  The  remaining  Terrorists  to  be  exiled  from 
Paris. 

4th.  A  law  to  impose  conditions  upon  residing  in 
Paris  to  be  demanded. 

The  Secretary  of  State,  Maret,  then  read  out  the 
list  of  individuals  for  deportation.  The  greater 
number  were  unknown  to  the  members  of  the 
Council.  The  only  remarkable  persons  were  Prince 
Charles  of  Hesse,  Destrem,  Botto,  Felix,  Lepelletier, 
Fournier  the  American,  and  some  others,  who  had 
been  more  or  less  noticeable  during  the  course  of 
the  Revolution,  for  their  exaggerated  opinions,  or 
actions. 

The  reading  of  these  various  papers  being  ended, 
the  debate  began.  It  turned  especially  on  the 
report  of  the  Minister  of  Police  and  on  the  con- 
clusions he  had  drawn.      Several  members  of  the 


428       ME3I0IRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Council,  myself  among  the  number,  remarked  that 
the  Minister  spoke  with  extreme  reserve  of  the 
event  of  the  3rd  Nivose,  whereas  he  gave  exact  and 
full  details  of  the  preceding  plots ;  and  that  only 
by  analogy,  and  the  similarity  of  the  means  em- 
ployed, could  the  conclusion  be  reached  that  the 
authors  of  the  latter  criminal  design  belonged  to  the 
class  pointed  out  by  the  Minister,  against  which 
exclusively  he  proposed  severe  measures. 

I  went  farther,  and  stated  my  opinion  that  if  the 
report  of  the  Minister  were  to  be  published  in  order 
to  justify  the  impending  measures,  it  would  be  indis- 
pensable to  modify  the  phrase  which  I  have  itali- 
cised above,  as  it  appeared  to  cast  suspicion  on  a 
class  to  which  those  who  were  being  prosecuted 
did  not  belong. 

These  observations  were,  on  the  whole,  well 
received,  an  attentive  examination  of  the  papers 
that  it  would  be  desirable  to  publish  was  promised, 
and  the  First  Consul,  regarding  the  debate  as  con- 
cluded, put  the  three  following  questions  to  the 
vote. 

First.  Is  it  necessary,  under  existing  circum- 
stances,  to  have  recourse  to  an  extraordinary 
measure?     Unanimously  resolved  in  the  affirmative. 

Secondly.  Ought  that  measure  to  form  the  matter 
of  a  law?  Unanimously  resolved  in  the  negative, 
■u  it  li  t  lie  exception  of  Truguet. 


A  FIXED   IDEA,  429 


Thirdly.  Shall  this  measure  be  referred  to  the 
Conservative  Senate  ?  Unanimously  resolved  in  the 
affirmative. 

When  I  reflect  on  what  took  place  at  that  sitting 
I   can    only    deplore    the  facility    with  which   men 
under  the  sway    of  a   fixed  idea   are  led  away  in 
political  assemblies.    In  the  case  which  I  am  relating, 
the  fixed  idea  of  the    Members   of  the    Council   of 
State  was  the  conviction  that  the  Terrorists  were  the 
only  enemies  dangerous  to    the    Government ;    that 
men,    themselves   stained   by  the    greatest  excesses, 
and  who  had  shed  the  blood  of  their  fellow-citizens, 
ought  to  be  outlawed  by  society;  and  that  the  ac- 
complishment of  that  end  was  so  great  a  benefit,  that 
every  means  of  attaining   it  was  justifiable.      This 
was  a  false  and  dangerous  maxim,  the  application 
of   which   may   entail   fatal    consequences !       Thus, 
although  a  calm  examination  of  the  reports  that  had 
just  been  read  to  us  would  have  made  us  more  than 
ever   doubtful    that  the  real   criminals  of  the    3rd 
Nivose  were  threatened  by  the    proposed   measure, 
we  unanimously  agreed,   without   hesitation,  to  the 
propositions  submitted  to  us.     But  the  Government 
carefully  abstained  from  exposing  the    reports  that 
had  been  read  to  the  Council  to  the  dispassionate 
discussion  which  publicity  would  have  entailed  ;  the 
weak   side  of  those  reports  would   have  been   im- 
mediately recognised,  and  public  opinion  would  not 


430      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

have  been  satisfied  with  them.  No  part  of  the 
papers  read  to  us  was  printed,  and  the  Report  of 
the  Minister  of  Police,  which  three  days  afterwards 
was  presented  to  the  Senate,  and  was  supposed  to 
have  served  as  the  basis  of  the  discussion  at  the 
Council  of  State,  was  altogether  different  from  the 
one  we  had  listened  to ;  the  questions  on  which 
we  had  to  deliberate  were  not  presented  in  the  same 
way,  and  in  the  list  of  names  for  deportation,  several 
of  those  which  were  comprised  in  Maret's  list, 
among  others  that  of  Botto,  formerly  Secretary  to 
Barras,  were  suppressed. 

The  Senate,  however,  already  favourably  disposed, 
showed  no  hesitation,  and  the  senatus-consultum, 
carried  up  by  three  orators  of  the  State-Council — 
Roederer,  Simeon,  and  Portalis — was  rendered. 
As  the  first  act  of  the  kind,  it  cemented  the 
union  of  the  Senate  with  the  Government,  and 
created  that  powerful  instrument  which  served  to 
build  up  the  edifice  which  Bonaparte  was  then 
meditating,  and  which  he  so  rapidly  succeeded  in 
erecting. 

I  must  add,  moreover,  that  the  Government 
made  little  use  of  the  right  to  deport  the  Terror- 
ists which  had  just  been  conferred  upon  it  by  the 
Senate.  They  employed  it  in  only  a  few  cases.  'J1  lie 
individuals  were  simply  banished  from  Paris,  not 
deported,  and  were  subsequently  allowed  to  return. 


THE   TRIAL   OF  CERACCHI.  431 

Perhaps  the  First  Consul,  according  as  more  posi- 
tive information  disclosed  the  real  authors  of  the 
attempt  of  the  3rd  Nivose,  felt  the  injustice  of  in- 
flicting punishment  on  innocent  persons  ;  or,  being 
satisfied  with  having  put  the  Senate  in  action  and 
created  a  new  source  of  power,  from  which  he  pur- 
posed to  derive  immense  advantage,  he  did  not  wish 
to  excite  popular  discontent  by  the  severity  of  the 
first  act  of  authority  it  enabled  him  to  exert. 
However  this  may  be,  it  is  a  fact  that  the  senatus- 
consultum  produced  little  result,  and  soon  became  a 
dead  letter. 

The  event  of  the  3rd  Nivose  led  to  Ceracchi  and 
his  accomplices  being  brought  to  trial,  for  having 
attempted  the  life  of  the  First  Consul  on  the  18th 
Yende'miaire.  Until  now  no  proceedings  had  been 
commenced.  The  act  of  accusation  was  drawn 
up  on  the  6th  Nivose  (December  27),  and  by  a 
judgment  delivered  on  the  19th  of  the  same  month 
(January  9)  Ceracchi,  Demerville,  Joseph  Arena 
and  Topino  Lebrun  were  condemned  to  death  and 
executed.  The  Tribunal  acquitted  the  other  accused 
persons. 

Shortly  afterwards,  the  real  authors  of  the  attempt 
of  the  3rd  Nivose  became  known.  The  gates  of 
Paris  had  been  shut  from  the  20th  Nivose  (Januarv 
10,  1801)  and  this  police  measure,  which  during 
the  Revolution  was  only  resorted  to  on  occasions  of 


432      ME3I0IBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  3IELIT0. 


serious  danger,  real  or  supposed,  lasted  for  several 
days.  To  enter  or  to  leave  Paris  was  alike  for- 
bidden, without  the  production  of  a  safe  conduct  or  a 
passport.  A  strict  supervision  was  exercised  over 
strangers  dwelling  in  Paris.  Extraordinary  measures 
had  been  taken  for  the  arrest  of  various  persons, 
especially  among  the  Chouans  and  the  returned 
emigres.  The  police,  in  fact,  mostly  pursued  their 
enquiries  among  the  latter,  and  delayed  or  ne- 
glected the  execution  of  the  senatus-consultum  against 
the  Terrorists.  Everything  pointed  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  police  authorities  were  convinced 
that  the  real  criminals  of  the  3rd  Nivose  would  he 
found  among  the  Royalists  of  La  Vendee  or  of 
Brittany,  nor  were  they  mistaken.  In  short, 
between  the  29th  Nivose  and  the  8th  Pluviose,  the 
three  principal  actors  in  the  conspiracy,  the  con- 
structors of  the  Infernal  Machine,  were  arrested. 
Their  names  are  as  follows. 

Carbon,  alias  Petit  Francois,  Captain  in  the  Yen- 
dean  army,  and  serving  under  General  Bourinont. 

Timoleon,  Chief  of  the  Staff  of  the  above-named 
General. 

Saint-Rejeant,  alias  Pierrot,  Lieutenant  under 
Georges  Cadoudal,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Chouans  in  Morbihan.* 

It  waa  Saiiit-hYjeaiit  whnfirnd  (lie  infernal  machine.     The 
violence  of  tho  .shock  flung  him  againBt  a  post,  ami  part  of  his 


THE   TRUTH  COMES  OUT.  433 

Thus  all  doubt  was  removed,  and  the  Chief  of 
the  Police  was  triumphant.  But  his  conduct  in 
this  business  was  not  the  less  odious.  What  can  be 
thought  of  a  man  who  consents  to  hand  over  a  con- 
siderable number  of  persons  to  public  vengeance, 
when  all  the  time  he  is  convinced  that  not  one  of 
them  is  guilty,  or  even  implicated  in  the  crime  of 
which  they  are  all  accused !  This  was  a  source  of 
endless  regret  for  those  in  authority  who,  deceived 
by  lying  reports,  gave  their  consent  to  these  iniqui- 
tous sentences !  For  my  own  part  I  have  never 
forgiven  myself  for  my  share  in  this  matter.  The 
most  remarkable  part  of  it  was  the  selection  of 
the  orators  who  were  sent  to  the  Senate.  Roederer, 
no  doubt,  acted  in  perfect  good  faith.  But  how  could 
Portalis  and  Simeon,  who  at  a  later  period  prided 
themselves  on  having  constantly  acted  as  agents 
of  the  Bourbons  under  the  Empire,  consent  to 
support  before  the  Senate  an  arbitrary  measure  which 
they  well  knew  to  be  unjust. 

I  have  dwelt  at  length  on  the  celebrated  date  of 
the  3rd  Nivose,  and  I  was  bound  to  do  so.  The 
details  it  has  given  me  an  opportunity  of  narrating, 


breast-bone  was  driven  in.  He  was  obliged  to  resort  to  a 
surgeon,  and  it  would  seem  that  this  man  denounced  him.  See, 
besides,  the  report  of  11th  Pluviose  by  the  Minister  of  Police, 
which  appeared  in  the  '  Moniteur  '  on  the  12th,  very  different 
to  the  one  he  had  read  a  mouth  earlier  at  the  Council  of  State. 
VOL.    I.  2    P 


434      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

the  growing  inclination  towards  despotism,  with 
which  Bonaparte's  danger  inspired  him  at  this  time, 
are  worthy  of  attentive  consideration.  Recognizing 
that  he  had  equally  formidable  enemies  in  the  two 
extreme  parties,  the  Royalists  and  the  Terrorists,  he 
became  persuaded  that  Supreme  Power  alone  could 
save  him  from  plots  against  his  life,  and  the  un- 
expected docility  displayed  by  all  the  bodies  of  the 
State  convinced  him  that  thenceforth  there  was 
nothing  he  might  not  attempt  with  great  proba- 
bility of  success.  Not,  however,  that  those  bodies 
or  the  citizens  were  already  prepared  to  confer  on 
him  the  absolute  Sovereignty  which  he  acquired 
two  years  later ;  but  the  public  imagination  was 
so  deeply  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  was  the 
necessary  man,  and  so  terrified  at  the  abyss  into 
which  the  nation  must  fall  if  he  failed  it,  that  no 
sacrifice  was  thought  too  costly  to  preserve  a  life 
on  which  the  existence  of  France  herself  depended. 
Bonaparte  was  therefore  greatly  indebted  to  his 
enemies.  By  aiming  at  his  life  with  the  assassin's 
dagger  they  had  revealed  to  him  the  secret  of  his 
strength,  and  enforced  on  him,  so  to  speak,  the 
aecessity  of  exerting  it. 

The  criminal  and  unsuccessful  attempt  of  the  old 
Nivose  li;nl  also  the  effect  of  hastening  the  con- 
elusion  of  the  negotiations  which  had  been  seriously 
resumed  at  LuneVille,  in  consequence  of  our  military 


THE  AUTHOR  IS  SENT   TO   CORSICA.         435 

successes  in  Italy  and  our  victory  at  Hohenlinden. 
Fortune  bad  delivered  Bonaparte  from  several  con- 
spiracies, and  France  had  been  saved  from  the 
anarchy  which  would  have  been  caused  by  his  death, 
so  that  it  had  become  a  necessity  for  the  Powers 
to  treat  with  her.  Peace,  Austria's  sole  resource, 
was  equally  needful  for  Bonaparte  in  order  that 
he  might  tranquillise  the  interior  of  France,  espe- 
cially the  Southern  Provinces,  which  were  still  laid 
waste  by  brigandage  and  by  a  sanguinary  reaction. 
Joseph  Bonaparte  and  Count  von  Cobentzel  speedily 
agreed  upon  the  principal  points  of  the  treaty,  and 
I  was  gratified  to  hear  this  good  news. 

But  I  was  not  destined  to  witness  the  triumph  of 
the  negotiator  on  his  return  to  Paris.  The  First 
Consul  hurried  me  off  to  Corsica.  The  Consular 
Act,  appointing  me  Administrator  General  of  the 
two  departments  of  Golo  and  Liamone,  into  which 
the  island  was  at  that  time  divided,  had  been  sent  to 
me  on  the  21st  Nivose  (January  11),  together  with 
a  decree  of  the  Council  of  State  conferring  ex- 
tensive powers  on  me  during  the  suspension  of  the 
rule  of  the  Constitution,  a  suspension  which  had 
been  pronounced  by  law. 

I  therefore  prepared  to  set  out;  but  before  my 
departure,  I  had  several  interviews  with  the  First 
Consul,  from  whom  I  received  instruction  as  to 
the   line    I    was    to    follow    in   my    administration. 

2  f  2 


436      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

He  desired,  after  having  restored  peace  in  the 
country,  to  exercise  a  salutary  influence  on  the 
manners  and  customs  of  his  fellow  countrymen,  to 
civilise  them  ;  to  introduce  new  modes  of  cultivation 
into  an  island  so  favoured  hy  climate  and  situa- 
tion ;  to  embellish  the  towns,  especially  Ajaccio  his 
birthplace,  and  to  bring  salubrious  water  within 
reach  of  its  inhabitants ;  lastly,  to  construct  roads 
and  make  them  fit  for  wheeled  traffic.  I  gladly 
undertook  to  assist  him  in  these  benevolent  en- 
deavours, and  although  I  could  not  disguise  from 
myself  the  difficulties  in  my  way — several  serious 
disturbances  having  occurred  in  the  island  since  the 
departure  of  the  English — I  felt  my  spirits  rise  with 
the  hope  of  doing  some  good.  I  hastened  to  collect 
everything  that  could  help  me  in  the  execution  of 
these  desirable  projects.  I  obtained  from  five  to  six 
thousand  volumes  from  the  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
to  form  the  nucleus  of  a  public  library  in  Ajaccio ;  a 
printing-press  for  the  same  town,  and  a  quantity  of 
seeds  and  grafts,  which  the  esteemed  Tliouni  himself 
selected  for  me.  I  hoped  to  naturalise  in  Corsica  some 
of  the  productions  of  America,  such  as  cotton,  indigo, 
and  the  cactus,  which  supplies  food  to  the  cochineal; 
live  specimens  of  that  insect  were  also  given  me. 
This  valuable  collection  was  entrusted  to  M.  Noisette, 
a  skilful  gardener  who  accompanied  me  to  the 
island. 


THE  AUTHOR'S  JOURNEY.  437 

All  my  preparations  being  complete,  I  left  Paris 
with  my  family  on  the  15th  Pluviose,  year  IX. 
(February  4,  1801).  The  roads  were  at  that  time 
in  a  frightful  condition.  Our  carriages  were  upset 
twice  before  we  reached  Lyons,  where  I  embarked 
on  the  Rhone,  and  went  by  boat  as  far  as  Avignon. 
To  the  latter  town,  on  the  evening  of  the  28th 
Pluviose,  a  trade-courier,  on  his  way  to  Marseilles, 
brought  the  news  of  the  conclusion  of  peace  between 
France  and  Austria  at  Lune'ville,  on  the  20th 
Pluviose  (Feb.  9). 

After  various  accidents  caused  by  the  bad  state 
of  the  roads,  I  arrived  at  Toulon  on  the  7th  Ventose 
(Feb.  26). 

The  south  of  France  was  still  far  from  tranquil. 
Brigandage  and  murder  were  of  common  occurrence, 
and  the  inhabitants  in  general  showed  little  liking 
for  the  Consular  Government.  The  news  of  peace 
had  made  but  a  slight  impression  ;  it  was  hardly 
believed,  and  the  report  was  regarded  as  a  trick  of 
the  Government.  We  had  need  of  a  considerable 
escort  to  make  the  journey  between  Marseilles  and 
Toulon  in  safety,  and  to  cross  the  gorges  of  Ollioules, 
a  very  dangerous  passage  at  that  time.  General 
Cervoni*    who    was   in     command    of    the    eighth 

*  General  Cervoni  was  a  Corsican  by  birth,  deeply  attached 
to  the  Bonaparte  family,  an  able  soldier,  and,  moreover,  a  very 
estimable  man.     During  my  stay  at  Marseilles,   he   gave   mo 


438      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

Military  Division,  of  which  the  departments  of  the 
Rhone  and  Var  form  a  part,  was  active  in  repress- 


some  particulars  of  the  origin  of  the   greatness  of  the  First 
Consul,  which  I  will  set  down  here.     Bonaparte  was  in  Corsica 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Kevolution ;   he  was  appointed  to  a 
command  in  the  National  Guard  when  that  body  was  organized. 
Persecuted  by  the  partisans  of  Faoli,  he  and  bis  family  took 
refuge  in  France  and  came  to  Marseilles.     He  was  then  merely 
a  captain  of  artillery,  and  in    that   capacity  was  ordered  to 
escort  a  convoy  of  gunpowder  from  Avignon  for  the  siege  of 
Toulon.      Having  accomplished  this  task,  he  passed  through 
Marseilles  just  at  the  moment  when   Gasparin  and   Salicetti, 
Commissioners  of  the  Convention,  attached  to  the  troops  besieg- 
ing Toulon,  had   directed  Cervoni  to  ask   the  Military  Com- 
mander of  Marseilles  for  an  artillery  officer,  to  whom  part  of  the 
siege  works  might  be  confided.      Joseph  Bonaparte,  who  was 
then  at  Marseilles,  informed  Cervoni  of  his  brother's  arrival,  and 
they  went  together  to  seek  Napoleon  at  the  Club.      They  in- 
vited him  to  drink  punch  at  a  neighbouring  cafe,  and  proposed 
to  him  that  he  should  go  to  the  siege  of  Toulon.      Bonaparte 
mado  some  difficulty  before  accepting ;  he  had  a  poor  opinion 
of  Carteaux,   who   was    conducting    the  siege.      However,    ho 
was  at  last  induced  to  consent.      On  his  arrival  before  Toulon 
Bonaparte  went  immediately  to  inspect  the  batteries,  and  every- 
thing appertaining  to  the   service    of   the    artillery,   and    was 
exceedingly  dissatisfied.     The  positions  appeared  to  him  badly 
chosen;   and  he  noticed  in  particular  that  a  battery  directed 
against    ihe  enemy's  fleet    was    at  too    great    a   distance      lie 
therefore    declared    openly   to    Gasparin   that   ho    could    not 
possibly   servo   under   a   general   who   had  not  the   most   ele- 
mentary military  knowledge.     Gasparin  was  struck  with  this 
declaration,  recognised  all    that  might  he  expected  from  a  man 
who  already  showed  signs  of  the  ability  ho  was  afterwards 
to    display    so    SllOCessfully.        Be    wrote    in    this   sense   to   the 

Committee  of  Public  Safety,  who  recalled  Carteaux  and  replaced 


TOULON.  439 


ing  the  universally  prevalent  disorder;  but  he 
was  ill-seconded  by  the  municipalities,  who  trembled 
before  the  remnants  of  the  bands  of  assassins  which 
had  been  organized  two  years  previously,  and  had 
committed  the  most  frightful  excesses.  The  muni- 
cipal authorities  dared  not  prosecute  the  guilty 
men,  and  crimes  were  committed  in  broad  daylight 
without  either  a  complaint  being  lodged  or  a  witness 
found  to  aid  the  law  in  its  pursuit  of  the  criminals. 
Thus  at  every  period  of  our  troubles  the  south- 
ern towns  have  shown  the  same  passionateness  on 
one  side  or  the  other.  Absurd  intolerance  and 
sanguinary  fury  have  continually  dishonoured  the 
side  adopted  by  the  South. 

Orders  had  been  given  at  Toulon  to  equip  a 
corvette  to  convey  me  to  Corsica.  As  she  was  not 
in  readiness  when  I  arrived,  I  was  obliged  to  prolong 
my  stay  for  nearly  three  weeks. 

Another  circumstance  also  aided  to  delay  me. 
A  French  squadron  under  Admiral  Ganteaume  had 
entered  the  roadstead  of  Toulon,  on  the  6th  Yentose. 
From  day  to  day  we  awaited  its  departure  for  Egypt, 


him  by  Dugommier.  Bonaparte  got  on  well  with  the  new 
general,  and  predicted  that,  with  Dugommier  directing  the 
siege,  Toulon  would  fall  within  the  month.  The  event  justified 
this  prediction.  After  the  taking  of  Toulon  Bonaparte  was 
named  General  of  Brigade,  and  this  was  the  origin  of  his 
military  glory  and  success. 


440      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


for  we  hoped  that  by  sailing  at  the  same  time  our 
ship  would  be  escorted  as  far  as  Corsica.  But  the 
time  consumed  in  repairing  several  of  the  vessels  of 
this  squadron,  which  were  damaged  by  the  wind,  and 
the  supineness  of  the  Admiral,  as  well  as  difficulties 
of  detail,  which  cropped  up  every  day,  detained  us 
in  the  roadstead  until  the  end  of  the  month.  The 
expedition  commanded  by  Admiral  Ganteaume  was 
in  reality  destined  for  Egypt,  where  it  was  to  land 
two  thousand  men,  but  this  destination  had  been 
masked  at  the  time  of  its  departure  from  Brest, 
under  the  pretence  of  sending  it  to  Saint-Domingo. 
Lescalier,  Councillor  of  State,  and  General  Satru- 
guet  had  embarked  with  the  fleet ;  the  first  as 
Administrator-General;  the  second  as  Captain- 
General  of  that  colony.  A  large  number  of  negro 
officers  had  also  embarked,  believing  they  were 
going  to  serve  under  the  orders  of  Toussaint  l'Ouver- 
ture,  and  it  was  only  when  the  squadron  passed 
through  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  that  each  and  all 
found  they  had  been  deceived. 

Notwithstanding  these  precautions,  and  this  decep- 
tion of  which  they  were  the  dupes,  the  expedition 
had  not  succeeded.  From  what  Ganteaume  himself 
told  me,  lie  had  found  superior  forces  on  the  Coast 
of  Africa,  and  moreover  he  had  believed  himself  to 
be  followed  by  a  division  of  (lie  enemy  that  had 
entered  the   Mediterranean  after  him.     The  fear  of 


TOULON.  441 


finding  himself  between  two  squadrons  with  but 
feeble  resources,  and  compromising  the  precious 
remnants  of  our  navy,  had  determined  him  to  cast 
anchor  at  Toulon.  Since  his  arrival  only  a  few  of 
the  enemy's  frigates  had  been  seen  cruising  about,  to 
take  observations  of  the  movements  of  the  French 
squadron,  and  no  formidable  force  had  appeared. 

When  Bonaparte  heard  that  the  squadron  had 
put  into  Toulon,  and  that  it  was  remaining  there, 
he  was  very  angry,  and  sent  Colonel  Lucien,  one 
of  his  aides-de-camp,  to  urge  Ganteaume  to  put 
to  sea.  The  only  hope  of  retaining  Egypt,  or 
at  least  enabling  the  French  to  maintain  their 
position  there  some  time  longer,  lay  in  the  arrival 
of  the  troops  and  succour  of  all  kinds  sent  out  by 
this  squadron — if  it  failed  to  arrive,  the  conquest 
must  be  entirely  abandoned.  But  notwithstanding 
all  the  importance  the  Government  seemed  to  attach 
to  this  expedition,  Ganteaume  delayed  his  departure 
from  day  to  day  ;  he  even  purposely  exaggerated 
the  enemy's  forces  by  which  he  said  he  was 
pursued ;  for  it  was  known  afterwards  that  the 
English  had  only  three  or  four  men-of-war  on 
the  Coast  of  Africa,  or  before  Alexandria,  and  the 
French  squadron  was  by  far  the  stronger.  On 
the  other  hand,  very  serious  differences  had  arisen 
between  the  Admiral  and  General  Satruguet,  in 
command  of  the  troops    on  board,  and   everything 


442      MEMOIBS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


seemed  to  combine  to  render  the  expedition  a 
failure.*  At  last,  after  a  delay  of  twenty-three 
days  in  the  roadstead  of  Toulon,  the  French 
squadron  weighed  anchor  on  the  29th  Yentose 
(March  20)  at  six  in  the  evening.  The  war-sloop 
Hirondelle,  with  myself,  my  family,  and  several 
other  persons  employed  in  the  Corsican  Administra- 
tion on  board,  set  sail  at  the  same  time,  under  escort 
of  the  fleet.  The  north-west  wind  blew  very  strong. 
Hardly  had  we  left  the  roadstead  when  the  Admiral 
hailed  us,  to  say  that  one  of  his  vessels  had  struck, 
that  he  could  no  longer  make  way,  and  had  brought- 
to,  waiting  until  the  ship  could  be  got  off. 

As  he  gave  us  no  orders,  the  captain  of  our  vessel 
determined  to  remain  with  the  squadron;  but  at 
eleven  o'clock  a  violent  wind  arose,  and  the  sea 
became  so  rough  that  we  were  unable  to  remain 
with  the  squadron.  The  next  morning  we  found 
ourselves  altogether  separated  from  it,  and  in  sight 
of  the  islands  of  Ilyeres.  In  the  evening,  the  wind 
having  fallen,  we  cast  anchor  at  Saint-Tropez, 
where  we  were  detained  two  days  awaiting  a 
favourable  wind. 

*  In  fact  it  did  fail  completely,  and  in  the  same  year  (1801) 
Ganteaume  brought  back  his  squadron  to  Toulon  without 
having  «  llrci.d  thu  disembarkation  of  tho  troops.  Nevertheless 
ho  was  a  very  skilful  commander,  as  ho  proved  in  the  nioro 
fortunate  expedition  scut  to  revictual  Corfu  in  1807,  and  of 
which  I  shall  have  future  occasion  to  speak. 


CORSICA.  443 


We  set  sail  again  on  the  1st  Germinal  (March 
22),  and  the  next  morning  we  sighted  Corsica, 
but  were  detained  near  the  coast  by  a  dead  calm, 
which  prevented  us  from  doubling  Cape  Eoux  to 
reach  Ajaccio.  The  captain  of  the  Hirondelle  put 
in  at  Calvi,  where  we  landed  on  the  morning  of 
the  4th  Germinal,  year  IX.  (March  25,  1801).  From 
Calvi,  crossing  the  island  by  difficult  roads,  on  the 
10th  Germinal  (March  31)  we  reached  Ajaccio, 
where  I  established  myself  in  the  house  of  the 
Bonaparte  family,  which  had  been  placed  at  my 
disposal  by  the  First  Consul. 


4f4      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

State  of  Corsica  at  the  period  of  the  Author's  arrival — His 
proposed  system  for  the  administration  of  the  country — 
Difficulties  thrown  in  his  way  by  the  partisans  of  the 
Bonaparte  family,  and  the  military  authorities — He  dis- 
misses General  Muller,  Commandant  of  the  Division,  from 
the  island — Improvements  introduced  into  the  country — An 
account  of  the  Author's  excursion  to  Monte-Kotondo — Curious 
fete  given  in  his  honour  at  Cervione — The  organic  laws  of 
the  Concordat  concluded  with  the  Tope — The  Life-Consulship 
— Little  interest  shown  by  the  Corsicans  in  voting  for  it — 
Numerous  adverso  votes  among  the  troops — Journey  to 
Monte  d'Oro — Information  concerning  the  Bonaparte  family 
and  their  origin — The  Author  is  recalled,  and  Corsica  is 
again  placed  under  the  mle  of  the  Constitution — Sketch  of 
the  state  of  the  island  and  the  customs  of  the  inhabitants. 

On  the  whole  I  wax  well  received  in  Corsica;  the 
recollections  of  my  first  mission  to  the  island  were 
favourable  to  me;  my  impartiality,  and  that  a  sin- 
cere desire  to  restore  peace  to  the  country  was  the 
sole  aim  of  all  my  actions  was  well  known.  The 
people  believed  me  to  he  still  animated  by  the 
same  s( intiments,  and  they  were  not  mistaken.  My 
greatesl    difficulties,  therefore,  did    not   lie   in   the 


COBSICA.  445 


aversion  or  the  opposition  of  the  inhabitants,  but 
arose  from  the  ascendency  exercised  by  the  partisans 
of  the  First  Consul's  family,  and  which  they  wanted 
to  continue  to  exercise.  They  looked  upon  me 
merely  as  their  instrument,  to  be  used  solely  to  get 
rid  of  their  enemies,  and  to  confer  favours  on  their 
proteges.  I  was  by  no  means  inclined  to  play  such 
a  part  as  this,  and  had  I  done  so,  I  should  not  only 
have  failed  in  my  most  obvious  duty,  but  I  should 
have  added  to  the  discord  which  it  was  my  principal 
business  to  appease.  I  therefore  assumed  an  inde- 
pendent attitude,  and  I  soon  became  a  mark  for  the 
enmity  of  all  those  who  did  not  find  me  sufficiently 
pliant,  and  who  made  complaints  and  accusations  of 
all  kinds  against  me  at  Paris.  I  had  much  to  bear 
from  these  machinations,  although  I  must  do  the 
First  Consul  the  justice  to  say  that  he  perseveringly 
protected  me  when  I  was  attacked  by  the  basest 
calumnies,  and  would  never  withdraw  his  confidence 
from  me. 

I  shall  now  describe  the  state  of  the  country  when 
I  arrived,  and  the  course  which  I  adopted  in  the 
management  of  public  affairs. 

At  the  close  of  my  first  mission  Corsica  had  been 
brought  under  the  rule  of  the  Constitution  of  year 
III.,  and  during  the  whole  existence  of  that  Con- 
stitution the  island  had  been  governed  by  Depart- 
mental administrations,  whose  members  were  selected 


44G      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


from  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  exclusively. 
The  elections,  which  were  sometimes  contested  by 
the  armed  partisans  of  the  various  factions  into 
which  the  wealthiest  and  most  powerful  families 
were  divided,  had  been  a  constant  pretext  for  dis- 
turbance which  frequently  led  to  bloodshed. 

When  the  elections  were  over,  the  victorious  party 
would  make  use  of  its  power,  avenge  itself  on  its 
opponents,  and  by  heaping  up  acts  of  petty  perse- 
cution and  injustice,  would  finally  drive  the  people 
into  open  revolt.  The  revolution  of  the  18th 
Brumaire  took  place.  But  in  the  island  the  result 
was  not  the  same  as  in  the  interior  of  France.  A 
kind  of  military  rule  took  the  place  of  the  adminis- 
tration that  during  the  last  years  of  the  Executive 
Directory  had  been  confided  to  men  actually  born 
in  the  island,  and  at  the  beginning  of  year  VIII. 
the  General  in  command  of  the  division  united,  so  to 
speak,  every  kind  of  authority  in  his  own  person, 
although  the  central  administrations  did  not  for- 
mally cease  to  exercise  their  functions  until  the 
arrival  of  the  Prefects. 

Notwithstanding  this  change,  the  establishment  of 
the  Consular  Government  and  the  Constitution  of 
year  7111.  had  had  but  little  effect.  Salicetti,  who 
had  been  sent  to  Corsica  as  the  delegate  of  the 
<'<>ii>uls.  had  not  succeeded  in  preventing  the  evil 
consequences  of  i^  adverse  disposition  of  the  public 


LAWLESSNESS  IN  THE  ISLAND.  447 

mind.  Being  a  native  of  the  country,  and  therefore 
always  suspected  of  partiality,  he  met  with  obstinate 
opposition  everywhere.  The  inhabitants,  exasperated 
by  long-continued  persecution,  and  agitated  by  the 
false  hopes  that  were  disseminated  through  the 
interior  by  returned  emigres  and  by  emissaries  of 
the  English,  were  very  unmanageable ;  and  the 
severity  of  the  means  employed,  perhaps  without 
due  regard  to  prudence,  to  repress  the  beginning  of 
trouble,  had  ended  by  causing  positive  insurrections 
in  several  parts  of  the  island.  Thus  in  the  months 
of  Floreal  and  Prairial  of  year  VIII.  (May  and 
June  1800)  a  revolt  had  broken  out  in  the  cantons 
of  Porto- Vecchio  and  Fiumorbo,*  and  afterwards  in 
Balagna.  The  attempt  to  repress  the  insurrection 
had  utterly  failed  in  the  two  first  cantons;  the 
troops  which  were  sent  there  for  the  purpose  had 
been  forced  to  fall  back,  on  account  of  the  total 
interruption  of  communications.  Balagna,  on  the 
contrary,  had  been  quickly  subdued  by  a  force  of 
2000  men,  who  penetrated  into  that  province,  the 
richest  of  the  island.  Severe  measures  had  been 
taken  against  the  insurgents  ;  many  of  them  were 
hanged,  and  the  Consular  delegates  imposed  a  fine 
of  2,000,000  francs  (£80,000),  of  which,  however, 
only  400,000  (£16,000)  was  realised. 

*  Thinly  inhabited  and  somewhat  uncivilised  cantons  on  the 
eastern  coast  of  Corsica. 


448      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


Notwithstanding  the  subjugation  of  Balagna,  and 
the  numerous  sentences  passed  by  the  Military 
Commission  which  Salicetti  had  instituted,  the 
country  was  still  far  from  perfect  tranquillity. 
Some  men  who  had  been  condemned  and  had 
afterwards  escaped  the  execution  of  their  sentences, 
had  taken  refuge  in  the  mountains  and  were  a 
terror  to  the  country,  carrying  on  a  system  of 
brigandage  which  they  exercised  on  all  travellers, 
and  also  perpetrating  acts  of  private  vengeance. 
No  one  could  travel  in  any  direction  without  an 
escort,  and  it  was  frequently  necessary  to  send  a 
detachment  of  five  or  six  men,  in  order  to  convey 
a  letter  from  one  post  to  another. 

The  effect  of  this  state  of  things  was  more  or 
less  perceptible  in  all  parts  of  the  island,  and  was 
rendered  still  more  serious  by  the  dearth  of  pro- 
visions and  the  high  price  of  bread ;  by  the 
discontent  of  the  troops,  whose  pay  was  in'  arrear, 
and  whose  destitution  was  extreme ;  by  the  delay 
in  the  arrival  of  the  funds  that  had  been  sent  from 
Paris  to  provide  for  their  wants;  by  the  anger 
excited  by  the  manner  in  which  those  funds  were 
expended,  particularly  the  money  produced  by  the 
Balagna  fine;  and,  lastly,  by  the  absolute  default  of 
justice. 

The  institution  of  juries  in  Corsica  had  ren- 
dered   it    impossible  to  punish   crime.     Divided   as 


DEPLORABLE  CONDITION  OF  CORSICA.       449 

they  were  into  parties,  and  at  the  same  time 
almost  all  connected  by  family  ties,  the  inhabi- 
tants, who  from  the  remotest  period  of  their  social 
existence  had  been  accustomed  to  avenge  their 
injuries  themselves,  or  to  hand  down  the  task  of 
vengeance  from  generation  to  generation,  looking 
upon  revenge  as  a  sacred  debt  of  honour  ;  the  inhabi- 
tants, I  say,  were  incapable  of  conceiving  a  just  idea 
of  the  duty  and  office  of  juries.  The  strongest 
evidence,  even  positive  proof  of  crime,  never  induced 
a  jury  composed  of  men  of  the  same  party,  or  the 
same  family,  as  the  accused,  to  pronounce  him  guilty, 
because  public  opinion  attaches  dishonour  to  any  one 
who,  to  use  the  expression  of  the  country,  "  denies 
his  party  or  deserts  his  blood."  If,  on  the  contrary, 
the  accused  were  of  the  opposite  party  to  that  of 
the  jury,  the  certainty  of  being  mercilessly  hunted 
down,  and  of  incurring  a  vengeance  which  at 
best  could  only  be  deferred,  equally  paralysed 
the  action  of  trial  by  jury,  and  the  useless  and  ex- 
pensive proceedings  were  almost  always  null  and 
void. 

Such  was  the  state  of  Corsica  at  the  time  of  my 
arrival.  To  extricate  the  country  from  this  de- 
plorable condition  the  Government  had  proposed  and 
obtained  the  law  which  suspended  the  Constitution 
in  the  departments  of  Golo  and  Liamone,  and  this, 
far  from    being  an    act  of  severity,  as  it  appeared 

VOL.    I.  2    G 


450      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

to   be   at   first   sight,   was   in  reality   a  substantial 
benefit. 

Having  received  instructions  from  my  Govern- 
ment, and  having  been  granted  very  wide  powers 
for  governing  a  country  where  the  difficulties  to  be 
overcome  were  so  great,  I  laid  down  for  myself  a 
plan  of  conduct  differing  from  that  which  had  been 
followed  hitherto.  I  applied  myself  first  to  re- 
storing the  course  of  justice,  which  had  been  in 
abeyance  for  several  years ;  and  my  first  care  was 
the  institution  of  a  criminal  tribunal  equally  com- 
posed of  civil  and  military  judges.  But  I  imposed 
at  the  same  time  a  rule  on  this  tribunal,  that  in 
proportion  as  it  should  rigorously  punish  such 
offences  and  crimes  as,  whatever  may  be  the  opinions 
of  a  nation  and  the  mode  of  its  Government,  are 
real  crimes  and  offences,  so  it  should  show  considera- 
tion and  even  indulgence  towards  actions  belong- 
ing exclusively  to  the  political  order,  which  had  a 
more  or  less  legitimate  excuse  in  the  numerous 
revolutionary  movements  that  had  taken  place 
in  Corsica,  and  the  contending  influence  successively 
exerted  by  those  who  had  been  at  the  head  of 
affairs  in  the  country. 

At  the  same  time,  therefore,  that  I  granted  an 
amnesty  in  the  name  of  the  Government  to  the  in- 
surgents of  Fiumorbo  and  Porto- Vccchio  ;  that  I 
allowed    the    men    who,    after    the    insurrection    of 


ENCOURAGING   RESULTS.  451 

Balagna,  had  fled  into  the  mountains  to  come  back 
to  their  homes  under  caution ;  that  I  permitted  the 
return  of  several  individuals  whose  names  had  been 
from  motives  of  personal  animosity  inscribed  on  the 
list  of  emigres*  I  gave  no  chance  of  escape  either 
to  assassins  or  brigands.  Many  of  these,  who  had 
been  arrested  and  publicly  tried  by  the  Extraor- 
dinary Tribunal  which  I  had  established  at  Ajaccio, 
were  punished  with  death,  and  that  salutary  ex- 
ample, which  announced  the  re-establishment  of 
legal  justice,  had  a  happy  effect.  In  less  than 
three  months  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  finding  con- 
fidence restored,  property  secure,  long-interrupted 
communications  once  more  open,  and  trust  in 
the  impartiality  and  firmness  of  the  Government 
growing  daily. 

Still,  notwithstanding  these  encouraging  results, 
my  efforts  were  far  from  being  universally  appre- 
ciated and  supported.!  My  impartiality  in  the 
appointment  of  officials,  my  strict  rectitude  in  the 
management  of  the  public   moneys,  my  inexorable 

*  The  First  Consul  had  himself  told  me,  in  Paris,  that  he  did 
not  believe  more  than  thirty  individuals  could,  with  justice,  be 
retained  on  the  list  of  emigres. 

t  One  of  the  greatest  misfortunes  of  the  Administration  in 
Corsica  is  that  a  post  in  that  island  is  always  regarded  in  France 
as  a  punishment  and  not  a  favour,  and  that  either  the  most 
ordinary  individuals  are  sent  thither,  or  else  persons  who  have 
given  dissatisfaction  in  Paris. 

2  g  2 


452      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

punishment  of  extortion  and  exactions,  procured  me 
a  great  many  enemies. 

The  military  especially,  mortified  that  extraordi- 
nary  powers  which  extended  even  over  them  had 
been  conferred  upon  me,  showed  me  decided  hostility. 
Far  from  helping  me  in  my  endeavours  to  restore 
public  tranquillity,  they  thwarted  them  to  the  best 
of  their  power.     At  last,  General  Muller,  who  was 
in  command    of  the    division,    a  brave    soldier  but 
of    little    judgment,     declared    himself    so    openly 
against   me,    and   conducted  himself  with   so  much 
impropriety,  that    I  was  obliged,  for    my    own   au- 
thority's sake,  to  order  him  back  to  France.     This 
decisive  act,  of  which  the  First  Consul  did  not  dis- 
approve,   bettered   my    position,   and    for    a    time 
silenced    my  adversaries.      But  they  soon  returned 
to  the  charge  with  renewed  violence.     It  was  Bona- 
parte's uncle,  afterwards  Cardinal  Fesch,  and  General 
Casabianca    who    especially    opposed   me    in    Paris. 
I  had   refused    to  confer  favours  and  appointments 
to  which  they  had   no  claim  on   some  proteges    of 
theirs.     This   could    not   be  forgiven  me,  and  they 
made  complaints  of  every  one  of  my  actions  to  the 
Ministers,  who  being  themselves  displeased  at  the 
removal  of  Corsica  from  their  administration,  lent  a 
willing  ear  to  all   they  had  to  say.     My  difficulties 
therefore  increased  at  every  step,  and  I  had  need  of 
all  my  strength  to  weather  the  storm.     I  shall  not 


PUBLIC    WORKS.  453 


enter  into  the  particulars  of  the  intricate  affairs  I 
had  to  manage.  At  that  time  they  occupied  me 
entirely ;  they  were  of  great  importance  to  the 
country  and  to  myself;  they  are  of  none  now.  I 
shall  only  say  a  few  words  of  the  improvements 
which  I  effected  in  the  island. 

Through  my  exertions  a  high  road  was  opened  in 
the  interior  of  Corsica,  by  which  easy  communication 
between  Ajaccio  and  Bastia  was  established.  This 
road,  which  crosses  the  mountain-chain  that  divides 
Corsica  into  two  unequal  parts,  is  highly  picturesque. 
At  the  time  of  my  departure  from  the  island  it 
was  in  a  forward  state,  and  I  believe  the  works 
were  continued  afterwards  and  the  road  brought 
to  perfection.  All  I  can  say  is  that  my  family 
travelled  along  it  in  a  carriage,  the  first  time  that 
a  vehicle  had  come  from  Ajaceio  to  Corte,  through 
the  difficult  pass  of  Foce  di  Guizzavona. 

The  town  of  Ajaccio  was  embellished  and  enlarged  ; 
some  old  fortifications  were  levelled,  and  a  new 
suburb  arose  on  their  site.  The  library  that  I  had 
brought  with  me  was  deposited  in  the  buildings 
formerly  owned  by  the  Jesuits,  and  was  thrown 
open  to  the  inhabitants.  The  printing-press  was 
set  up,  and  vied  with  that  of  Bastia,  the  only  one 
until  then  existing  in  Corsica.  Some  land  belong- 
ing to  the  State,  to  the  west  of  Ajaccio,  was  formed 
into  a  botanical  garden,  where  the  seeds  and  plants 


454      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

I  had  obtained  In  Paris,  throve,  on  the  whole, 
exceedingly  well.  Cotton-grass,  the  cotton-trees, 
and  indigo,  were  in  full  growth.  The  cochineal- 
cactus  had  taken  root,  and  the  insect  that  feeds  on 
it  was  flourishing.  I  had  found  a  water  supply  for 
the  town  from  whence  a  canal  could  be  brought 
through  the  Botanical  Gardens,  which  might  then 
have  been  considerably  enlarged.  Meanwhile  I  had 
caused  a  large  reservoir  which  sufficed  for  present 
wants  to  be  constructed.  These  useful  and  peace- 
ful victories  over  nature  were  to  me  a  delightful 
pastime,  and  a  very  real  consolation  amid  the  cares 
that  habitually  oppressed  me.  I  had  even  the 
satisfaction  of  feeling  that  my  labours  were  not 
altogether  without  reward,  and  that  I  was  repaid  by 
the  affection  of  at  least  a  portion  of  the  inhabitants. 
I  had  an  opportunity  of  testing  this  in  the  course  of 
my  numerous  journeys  into  the  interior.  In  the 
month  of  Fructidor,  year  IX.,  and  in  the  month  of 
Thermidor,  year  X.,  I  explored  the  two  highest 
mountains  of  Corsica,  Monte-Rotondo  and  Monte 
d'Oro,  and  as  I  am  unacquainted  with  any  book  of 
travels  in  which  a  description  of  those  mountains 
is  to  be  found,  I  will  insert  at  this  place  an  extract 
from  my  journal,  beginning  with  my  first  excursion. 


EXCURSION  TO  MONTE-ROTONDO.  455 

Excursion  to  Monte-Rotondo 

(also  called  Monte- Gradaccio  in  old  Corsican  Maps). 

We  started  from  Bastia  on  the  11th  Fructidor, 
year  IX.  (August  29,  1801),  and  proceeded  to 
Corta,*  not  by  the  high  road,  but  across  the  moun- 
tains by  way  of  Biguglia  and  Murato.  From  Murato 
we  came  to  Corta  to  pass  the  night. 

We  left  Corta  on  the  12th  Fructidor  at  2  p.m. 
with  two  shepherds  who  acted  as  guides,  and 
directed  our  way  towards  the  west,  ascending  the 
Restonica,  one  of  the  two  rivers  that  flow  through 
Corta.  We  halted  at  5  p.m.  and  passed  the  night 
on  the  ridge  of  a  mountain  called  La  Punta  del 
Renoso,  one  of  the  counter-forts  of  Monte-Rotondo. 
From  this  point  we  resumed  our  way  at  two  o'clock 
a.m.,  by  the  light  of  the  newly  risen  moon. 
We  first  went  up  a  valley  formed  by  two  spurs  of 
the  Punta  del  Renoso,  and  through  which  flows  a 
stream  called  the  Rivisecco,  which  empties  itself 
farther  on  into  the  Restonica.  The  air  was  chill, 
but  the  way  so  rugged  that  we  were  all  bathed  in 
perspiration.  After  two  hours  of  most  difficult 
walking  we  crossed  the  Punta  del  Renoso,  which  is 

*  My  fellow-travellers  were  MM.  Pietri,  Prefect  of  Golo; 
Methuan,  a  mining  engineer  ;  Demony,  a  young  man  employed 
in  my  administration,  and  Noisette,  a  botanist. 


456      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

a  sort  of  barrier  closing  the  valley,  and  whence  the 
Rivisecco  dashes  down  in  a  cascade.  We  found  it 
again  on  the  other  side  of  the  natural  dyke  I  have 
just  mentioned,  and  we  followed  it,  still  ascending, 
to  its  source  at  the  foot  of  Monte-Rotondo.  It  is 
alleged  that  this  source  is  in  reality  that  of  the 
Restonica,  and  consequently  it  would  be  the  Rivi- 
secco that  takes  the  name  of  Restonica,  when  it  joins 
the  waters  of  the  valley  through  which  we  had 
passed  on  leaving  Corta.  This  would  be  a  nice 
point  to  determine,  for  the  name  of  Restonica  in 
these  mountains  seems  common  to  all  the  streams 
which  flow  to  the  east  of  Monte-Rotondo. 

On  reaching  the  foot  of  the  latter  mountain  we 
were  enabled  to  appreciate  its  external  form.     It  pre- 
sents the  appearance  of  a  truncated  cone,  crowned 
with    several    bare    summits    more    or    less    needle- 
shaped.     Two  very  steep  ascents  lead  up  to  it.     We 
followed  that  on  the  left,  which  forms  the  southern 
flank  of  the  mountain.     The  ascent  was  at  first  easy 
enough ;    we  passed    a    few  small    shrubs,  such    as 
Alnus    (Vetula  alnus)    and    the    juniper  (Jurdperus 
communis),  but  they  were  extremely  stunted.     Very 
soon,  however,  all   vegetation  disappeared,  and   1  lie 
path   became  so  steep  that  we  had  great  dilhculty  in 
reaching  a  col  which  separates  two  of  the  aiguilles 
that    rise,     above     the     mountain.        It    was     8    A.M. 
when    we    reached    this   point,    whence   we   could 


MONTE-ROTONDO.  457 

observe  the  curious  configuration  of  the  mountain. 
It  absolutely  resembles  an  amphitheatre,  in  which 
there  is  a  wide  opening  for  the  escape  of  the  waters 
of  a  lake  contained  in  what  might  be  the  arena. 
The  walls  of  this  amphitheatre  are  almost  perpen- 
dicular, and  must  have  been  quite  so  originally,  for 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  rocky  fragments  which  give 
them  more  slope  and  render  it  possible  to  climb  to 
the  top  of  the  wall  are  but  slips  of  the  crest,  and 
that  the  needles  and  isolated  summits  are  formed 
simply  by  portions  of  rock  which  have  resisted  the 
attacks  of  time,  and  other  causes  to  which  the 
destruction  of  this  gigantic  wall  may  be  attributed. 

From  the  col  to  which  we  had  climbed  with  so 
much  difficulty,  we  could  enjoy  a  delightful  view, 
but  after  having  come  so  far  it  was  impossible 
not  to  wish  to  reach  the  highest  point  of  the  moun- 
tain now  rising  on  our  right.  After  a  few  moments 
rest,  therefore,  we  resumed  our  way,  and  keeping  as 
much  as  possible  on  the  summit  of  the  wall,  and 
springing  from  rock  to  rock,  we  at  last  reached  the 
highest  point  and  the  object  of  our  expedition.  We 
took  our  stand  on  a  pyramid  of  stones  heaped 
together  fifteen  years  before  by  M.  Barral,*  whose 
name  as  well  as  that  of  M.  de  Laguillaumie,  the 
former  Intendant  of  Corsica,  is  carved  on  one  of  the 

*  M.  Barral,  an  engineer  in  the  navy,  travelled  in  Corsica  in 
1784  and  1785,  and  published  a  description  of  the  island. 


4o8      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

stones,  with  the  date  1785,  and  we  admired  at  our 
leisure  the  magnificent  scene  which  lay  beneath  and 
around  us. 

The  point  on  which  we  were  standing,  whose  ele- 
vation, according  to  the  '  Annuaire  du  Bureau  des 
Longitudes,'  is  2672  yards  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  is  situated  almost  in  the  exact  centre  of  the 
island,  if  we  exclude  from  it  the  promontory  of  Cape 
Corso.  From  this  spot  we  overlooked  all  the  other 
mountains  of  the  island,  which  form  circular  ranges 
round  Monte-Rotondo,  diminishing  in  height  as 
they  approach  the  seashore.  A  vast  stretch  of  the 
Mediterranean  lay  before  us  ;  Sardinia,  the  island  of 
Elba,  the  coasts  of  Italy  with  all  their  little  scattered 
isles,  and  no  doubt  we  could  have  also  seen  the  coasts 
of  Spain  and  France,  but  for  the  clouds  which 
obscured  the  horizon  in  their  direction. 

The  highest  ranges  of  the  island,  next  to  Monte- 
Rotondo,  are  those  of  Monte-Cinto  to  the  north-west, 
and  that  of  Monte  d'Oro  to  the  south.  In  the  spaces 
between  the  various  ranges  which,  as  I  have  said, 
form  a  circular  chain  round  Monte-Rotondo,  we 
could  perceive  numerous  lakes  at  different  heights, 
whence  flow  the  principal  rivers,  or,  to  be  more 
accurate,  the  largest  streams  that  water  the  island. 

It  is  oTie  of  the  most  remarkable  physical  pecu- 
liarities  of  Corsica  that  these  lakes  are  like  funnels 
placed    in    llic    centre    <jf    the    mountains,  and    are 


MONTE-ROTONDO.  459 

generally  circular  in  shape.  The  circumference  of 
the  lake  that  occupies  what  I  call  the  arena  of  the 
Monte-Rotondo  amphitheatre  is  about  700  yards. 
The  waters  are  extremely  cold,  and  although  very 
clear,  look  almost  black,  because  of  the  depth  of  the 
basins  which  contain  them.  Many  fables  are  current 
among  the  shepherds  as  to  their  origin ;  they  are 
regarded  as  the  work  of  a  supernatural  power,  and 
many  most  improbable  phenomena  are  attributed  to 
them.  It  is  said  that  in  one  of  them,  Lake  Melo  or 
Meluccio,  no  living  being  can  be  immersed  without 
instantly  becoming  a  fleshless  skeleton.  One  of  the 
shepherds  who  accompanied  us  said  that  although 
he  was  a  good  swimmer  nothing  on  earth  would 
induce  him  to  throw  himself  into  that  lake.  The 
following  particulars  respecting  the  lakes  nearest  to 
our  standpoint  may  be  interesting. 

The  lake  of  Monte-Rotondo  is  the  source  of  the 
Yecchio,  a  river  which  flows  through  the  canton 
of  the  same  name  into  the  Tavignano. 

The  Restonica,  or  more  accurately  the  Rivisecco, 
rises  from  a  small  lake  that  we  had  remarked  on  the 
ascent  of  Monte-Rotondo. 

Lake  d'Ino  gives  birth  to  the  Galo,  the  Liamone 
and  the  Tavignano.  The  waters  appear  to  part  at 
a  certain  point,  the  Galo  flowing  to  the  east,  the 
Tavignano  to  the  south-east,  and  the  Liamone  to 
the  west. 


460      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


Lake  Creno  supplies  a  tributary  to  the  Liamone. 

Lake  Melo  receives  part  of  the  waters  of  the  two 
last-named  lakes,  which  are  situated  above  it,  and 
gives  out  a  stream  which,  joining  the  Eivisecco, 
becomes  the  Restonica. 

After  we  had  contemplated  these  varied  scenes,  we 
decided  on  descending  the  mountain  by  the  path 
opposite  to  that  by  which  we  had  come  up,  that  is  to 
say,  by  the  northern,  or  rather  the  north-west  side 
of  the  mountain.  In  order  to  accomplish  this,  we 
were  obliged  first  to  get  down  to  the  edge  of  the 
lake  at  the  bottom  of  the  amphitheatre,  and  then  to 
climb  again  by  the  only  practicable  point  of  the 
circular  wall.  We  succeeded  after  much  labour. 
Having  once  more  gained  the  summit  of  the  wall, 
at  a  point  almost  facing  M.  Barrel's  pyramid,  we 
began  the  descent,  and  taking  a  northerly  direction, 
we  passed  in  succession,  along  very  steep  and  diflicult 
paths,  the  shores  of  Lake  Ino,  Lake  Creno  and  Lake 
Melo.  We  halted  at  the  side  of  the  latter,  whose 
wild  and  picturesque  aspect  harmonises  admirably 
with  the  stern  and  terrible  landscape  that  sur- 
rounds it.  The  basin  in  which  the  lake  is  enclosed 
is  formed  by  a  kind  of  natural  dyke  caused  by 
landslips  from  the  neighbouring  mountains,  and 
I  In-  si  renin  which    Hows  from    it    rushes   in   a  cascade 

over  this  dyke.     From  the  banks  of  Lake  Melo  we 
traced,  not  without  a  shudder,  the  path  by  which  we 


THE   GItO  TELLE.  461 


had  reached  it.  After  following  the  borders  of  the 
lake,  which  we  left  on  our  right,  we  continued  our 
descent,  and  at  length  arrived  at  the  first  shepherds' 
huts  that  are  met  with  below  Monte-Rotondo.  This 
group  of  five  or  six  cabins  bears  the  name  of  the 
G-rotelle.  It  was  5  p.m.  when  we  reached  it ;  so  that 
we  had  been  walking  for  fifteen  hours  without  inter- 
mission. We  entered  one  of  the  cabins,  intending  to 
remain  until  the  morrow,  but  during  the  night  we 
were  overtaken  by  a  storm  which  obliged  us  to  quit 
our  place  of  shelter  in  order  to  cross  the  neighbour- 
ing stream,  as  it  had  in  a  few  hours  swollen  to  such 
an  extent  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  us 
to  have  crossed  it  next  morning.  Having  escaped 
this  danger,  we  set  out  at  daybreak  for  Corta, 
and  arrived  there  on  the  14th  Fructidor  (Septem- 
ber 1).  On  the  following  day  I  started  for  Orezza, 
journeying  through  the  Canton  of  Rostino  and  that 
of  Ampugnano.  This  part  of  Corsica  is  fertile  and 
richly  wooded ;  the  chestnut-trees  especially  are  very 
fine,  and  furnish  a  large  portion  of  the  people's  food. 
Orezza  is  celebrated  for  its  mineral  waters.  Its 
inhabitants  are  the  most  industrious  in  Corsica ;  it 
is  the  only  part  where  there  are  any  manufac- 
tories.*     After   staying    one   day    at   Orezza,    and 

*  Tan-yards  and  manufactories  of  wooden  utensils.  In  the 
stream  flowing  just  below  the  village  are  rocks  which  contain 
the  jasper  known  as  Vert  de  Corse. 


4fi2      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

inspecting  the  hospital  I  had  established  for  the 
soldiers  sent  there  for  the  mineral  baths,  I  pro- 
ceeded to  Cervione,  the  chief  town  of  the  Canton 
of  Campoloro. 

On  this  excursion  to  the  centre  of  Corsica,  which 
I  had  not  visited  during  my  first  mission,  I  was 
in  general  well  received  by  the  inhabitants,  and 
allowing  for  what  was  merely  formal  and  for  the 
flattery  usually  offered  to  official  personages,  I 
thought  I  could  detect  some  signs  of  real  affection 
for  me  on  the  part  of  the  people.  A  curious  fete 
that  was  given  in  my  honour  at  Cervione  contri- 
buted perhaps  to  impress  me  with  this  conviction. 
Fetes  of  this  kind  are  peculiar  to  that  part  of  the 
country  ;  the  inhabitants  take  great  delight  in  them, 
but  they  occur  only  on  extraordinary  occasions  of 
public  rejoicing. 

These  fetes  are  called  Morescas.  The  remembrance 
of  the  wars  between  the  Corsicans  and  the  Moors, 
who  formerly  devastated  the  country  and  forced  the 
inhabitants  to  remove  their  villages  from  the  plain 
to  the  mountains,  was  probably  the  origin  of  a 
kind  of  dramatic  representation  of  the  events  of  that 
warfare.  Tlio  very  derivation  of  the  name  justifies 
Ibis  supposition,  and  as  the  details  of  the  spectacle 
are  rather  curious,  I  shall  pause  a  moment  here,  to 
recall  them. 

The  conquest  of  Jerusalem  bad  been  chosen  as  the 


A   MOBESCA.  463 


subject  of  the  Moresca  that  was  represented  in  my 
honour,  and  Tasso's  poem  was  its  framework. 

The  scene  of  the  Moresca  had  been  skilfully 
selected.  At  a  short  distance  from  Cervione  was  a 
hill  whose  gentle  slope  formed  a  natural  amphi- 
theatre, and  commanded  the  space  where  the  piece 
was  to  be  represented.  On  this  hill  were  the  spec- 
tators.    Opposite,  to  the  east,  was  a  view  of  the  sea. 

On  a  wide  esplanade  below  the  hill  there  was  on 
one  side  a  camp  composed  of  several  tents,  and  on 
the  other  the  representation  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem. 
The  camp  was  occupied  by  the  French,  the  city 
by  Turks.  Godfrey's  tent  and  the  interior  of 
Aladdin's  palace  were  so  arranged  that  the  spec- 
tators could  see  and  hear  all  that  took  place  in  one 
or  the  other.  The  space  between  the  city  and  the 
camp  was  the  scene  of  the  various  combats  and 
other  events  that  were  successively  represented. 

To  the  left  of  the  camp  was  a  wooden  tower 
constructed  by  the  Christians  to  batter  the  town. 

The  drama  opened  with  a  prologue,  well  and 
feelingly  recited  by  one  of  the  actors.  It  described 
the  subject  of  the  play  and  the  arrangement  of  the 
stage.  This  prologue  was  quite  in  the  style  of 
Greek  tragedy. 

Then  the  drama  began,  and  the  whole  of  Tasso's 
poem,  from  the  appearance  of  the  Angel  to  Godfrey, 
to  the  assault  made  on  Jerusalem,  was  put  on  the 


464      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


stage,  with  the  exception  only  of  the  episode  of 
Armida,  which  was  suppressed.  But  that  of  Olindo 
and  Sofronia,  the  burning  of  the  tower  by  Argando 
and  Clorinda,  the  death  of  the  female  warrior,  the 
adventures  of  Erminia  and  the  embassy  of  Alete 
and  Argando  were  represented.  The  dialogue,  in 
the  purest  Italian,  was  animated  and,  on  the  whole, 
well  rendered  by  the  actors.  Some  verses  of  Tasso 
had  been  added,  but  not  many.  The  costumes  were 
accurate,  the  Christians  could  be  easily  distinguished 
from  the  Moors ;  the  former  wore  the  costume  of 
our  ancient  paladins  and  were  arrayed  entirely  in 
white ;  the  Moors  wore  the  Asiatic  dress,  red,  yellow 
and  green  being  the  predominating  colours. 

The  performance  lasted  nearly  four  hours.  The 
piece  was  listened  to  in  profound  silence,  only 
broken  by  the  applause  of  an  immense  and  attentive 
crowd  assembled  from  the  neighbouring  cantons. 
The  subject  seemed  familiar  to  all  the  spectators, 
and  was  thoroughly  appreciated  throughout.  The 
whole  was  conducted  with  the  greatest  decorum 
and  quietness. 

Two   days   afterwards    I    started    on    my    return 
journey  to    Bastia,  where    I    arrived    on    the    20th 
Fructidor,    and    where    I    passed   the  last    days  of 
year  IX. 

In    the    course    of    the    last    month    of  year    X. 
(October  1801)  1  learned  that  preliminaries  of  peace 


AJACCIO.  465 


with  England  had  been  signed ;  I  at  once  sent  my 
brother,  Jacques  Miot,  to  convey  the  news  to  the 
English  station  at  the  Piombino  Canal,  in  order  to 
procure  a  cessation  of  hostilities.  My  message  was 
well  received,  and  I  took  advantage  of  the  opening 
of  communications  with  Italy  to  provide  for  the 
necessities  of  the  island.  We  were  threatened  with 
an  extreme  scarcity  of  grain,  and  that  greatly  in- 
creased the  difficulties  of  my  position.  Lastly,  after 
taking  the  needful  steps  for  the  safety  and  vic- 
tualling of  the  department  of  Grolo,  I  left  Bastia  on 
the  29th  Brumaire  (November  20),  to  return  to 
Liamone  and  establish  myself  once  more  at  Ajaccio. 

I  found  this  part  of  the  island  perfectly  tranquil. 
Order  was  being  re-established  on  every  side,  and 
since  the  departure  of  General  Muller  the  harmony 
between  the  military  authority  and  my  own  had 
not  been  disturbed.  I  might  therefore  have  reckoned 
on  a  more  successful  issue  to  my  mission  than  I  had 
dared  to  hope  for,  if  obstacles  arising  in  Paris  had 
not  been  thrown  in  the  way  of  my  most  desirable 
measures.  My  life  was  passed  in  perpetual  conflict, 
and  I  spent  more  time  in  defending  myself  against 
attacks  from  without  than  I  required  to  devote  to 
all  the  details  of  internal  administration. 

About  four  months  after  my  return  to  Liamone  I 
learned  two  pieces  of  news  equally  important, 
although  of  a    very    different   kind.     The    one    an- 

VOL.   i.  2    II 


466      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

noimced  the  conclusion   of  a  definitive  peace  with 
England,  signed  at  Amiens  on  4th  Germinal,  year  X. 
(March  25,  1802)  ;  the  other,  the  adoption  of  a  law  to 
restore  public  worship,  framed  in  conformity  with 
the   Concordat  concluded  between  the  French  Re- 
public and  the  Holy  See.*     The  first  event  caused 
me  unmixed  joy ;  not  so  the  second.     In  proportion 
as  religious  tolerance  and  liberty  for  each  individual 
to  worship  the  Divinity  in  his  own  way  was  a  gain, 
did  the  renewal  of  the  former  relations  with  Rome, 
the  recognition  of  a  foreign  arbiter  in  matters  of 
faith,    and   above   all,    the    pomp   with    which   the 
Government  celebrated  this  return  to  former  things, 
seem  to  me  matter  for  alarm  to  men  of  clear  judg- 
ment, who  dreaded,  as  one  of  the  greatest  scourges 
that  can  afflict  a  nation,  the  readmission  of  religion 
and  the  ministers  of  religion  into  the  political  order. 
It  was,  indeed,  easy  to  foresee  that  all  the  power  of 
Bonaparte  would  not  suffice  to  keep  the  dangerous 
auxiliaries    he    was   accepting   within    the   narrow 
bounds  to  which  he  believed  he  was  restricting  them, 
and  the  result  lias  proved  that  when  reverses  came 
upon  him  he  had  no   more  implacable  enemies  than 
those  priests  to  whom  he  had  restored  so  dangerous 

*  Tho  Concordat  had  been  signed  in  Paris,  on  July  15, 1801, 
and  ratified  by  tho  Pope  on  tho  16th  of  August.  The  organic 
laws  of  tlic  Concordat  adopted  by  the  Tribunate  and  tho 
Legislative  Body  are  of  tho  16th  Gorminal,  year  X.  (April  6, 
L802). 


THE   CONCORDAT.  467 

an  influence  over  society.  But  at  the  time  when 
Bonaparte  took  this  perilous  step,  he  was  convinced 
that  of  all  religions  the  Catholic  was  that  most 
favourable  to  the  arbitrary  power  to  which  he 
aspired,  and  that  in  the  pulpit  and  the  confes- 
sional he  should  find  powerful  defenders  of  his 
system,  and  teachers  of  a  passive  obedience  to  his 
advantage.  He  shut  his  eyes,  therefore,  to  all  other 
considerations,  and  looked  on  the  restoration  of 
religion  as  a  necessary  step  for  reaching  supreme 
authority.  He  failed  to  attach  an  ungrateful  clergy 
to  himself,  while  he  alienated  many  adherents,  and 
though  I  was  stationed  at  a  very  isolated  point,  I 
had  ample  means  of  convincing  myself  of  these 
truths.  Notwithstanding  the  attachment  of  the 
Corsicans  in  general  to  the  Catholic  Faith,  its  un- 
expected restoration  in  France  caused  very  little 
sensation  in  the  island.  The  ceremonial  with  which 
I  had  the  new  law  promulgated,  the  Te  Deum  and 
solemn  masses,  produced  but  small  effect.  The  keen 
instinct  of  the  Corsicans  led  them  to  divine  that 
this  proceeding  of  the  First  Consul  was  not  to  be 
attributed  to  an  intimate  conviction  of  the  excellence 
of  Catholicity,  but  to  designs  of  greater  depth. 
Thus  my  position  was  not  altered,  either  for  the 
better  or  for  the  worse,  by  an  event  which  had 
such  importance  in  the  interior  of  France. 

In  fact    I    soon    discovered   that    Corsica    was   a 

2  h  2 


468      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

country  in  which  Bonaparte,  although  born  there, 
would  have  met  with  the  most  unwilling  acquies- 
cence in  the  executions  of  his  plans,  and  had  all  the 
departments  of  France  been  animated  with  the  same 
spirit  as  Golo  and  Liamone,  his  rapid  elevation 
might  have  encountered  greater  obstacles.  When 
the  decision  of  the  Second  and  Third  Consuls,  that 
the  people  should  be  consulted  on  the  question, 
"  Shall  Napoleon  Bonaparte  be  Consul  for  life  ?" 
reached  me,  I  hastened  to  proclaim  it,  and  to  open 
registries  where  every  inhabitant  was  to  record  his 
vote.  But  my  proclamation  awakened  no  enthu- 
siastic feeling  in  Corsica  in  favour  of  so  illustrious 
a  compatriot.  With  the  exception  of  the  public 
officials,  whose  vote  was  obligatory,  very  little 
eagerness  was  shown,  and  the  registers  were  filled 
up  but  slowly.  There  was  even  a  considerable 
number  of  votes  in  the  negative.  I  will  quote  a 
rather  remarkable  example  ;  the  following  vote  was 
given  by  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  Golo. 

"  Roma  non  accordava  che  un'  anno  al  Consolato. 
Dopo  Cromwell  successe  il  figlio  di  Carlo  I.,  e  si 
vendicb.  Si  domanda  la  carica  a  vita  oggi,  domain 
ereditaria."* 

*  "  Rome  granted  one  year  of  Consulship  only.  After 
Cromwell,  the  son  of  Charles  I.  succeeded,  and  avonged  him. 
To-day  it  is  duration  for  life  that  is  demanded,  to-morrow 
it  w  il)  lie  heredity." 


TEE  AUTHOR   SOLICITS  HIS  EEC  ALL.         469 

A  mong  the  military  there  were  also  many  nega- 
tive votes.  At  Ajaccio,  where  the  garrison  con- 
sisted of  300  men,  66  voted  "  No  ;"  and  among  a 
company  of  50  artillerymen,  38  voted  against  the 
proposal. 

Amid  the  mental  agitation  into  which  I  was 
thrown  by  the  great  changes  occurring  in  our  insti- 
tutions and  by  the  anticipation  of  further  change,  I 
was  forcibly  recalled  to  the  duties  of  my  office.  The 
general  state  of  the  country  had  become  satisfactory, 
and  no  longer  caused  me  anxiety.  General  Morand, 
who  had  been  appointed  by  the  First  Consul  to  re- 
place Muller,  had  arrived,  and  we  got  on  well 
together.  A  new  Commissioner  assisted  me  in  my 
endeavours  to  restore  order  in  the  Finance  Depart- 
ment, and  to  put  a  stop  to  scandalous  extortions.  My 
position  was  improved,  yet  I  was  not  so  well  satis- 
fied with  it  as  not  to  desire  a  change.  In  proportion 
as  Corsica  became  tranquillised,  I  solicited  my  recall 
with  greater  persistency,  and  I  tried  to  convince  the 
First  Consul  that  the  extraordinary  powers  which 
had  been  confided  to  me  were  no  longer  necessary. 
But  my  representations  failed,  and  I  learned  from  my 
friends  in  Paris  that  there  was  not  the  least  inten- 
tion of  recalling  me  to  France.  Having  lost  all 
hope,  therefore,  of  escorting  my  family  thither  in 
person,  I  decided  on  sending  my  wife  and  children 
without  me.     The  necessity  of  educating  my  children 


470      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

forbade  me  to  keep  them  any  longer  in  a  country 
where  the  means  of  instruction  was  lacking,  and 
I  parted  from  them  and  from  my  wife  on  the  14th 
Messidor  (July  3).  I  then  left  Ajaccio  in  order  to 
take  up  my  residence  in  the  highlands,  at  Bogog- 
nano,*  about  ten  miles  from  the  town,  where,  with- 
out detriment  to  the  despatch  of  public  business, 
I  might  breathe  better  air  than  in  Ajaccio.  That 
town  is  almost  uninhabitable  in  summer.  During 
my  stay  in  these  mountains  I  made  a  second  ex- 
cursion for  the  purpose  of  exploring  Monte  d'Oro. 

Excursion  to  Monte  d'Oro. 

On  the  10th  Thermidor  (July  29)  at  9  a.m. 
we  leftf  Bogognano,  and  took  the  high  road  from 
Ajaccio  to  Corta  as  far  as  the  Foce  di  Guizzavona, 
where  we  left  our  horses,  as  we  could  make  no 
use  of  them  for  the  remainder  of  our  journey. 
At  3  p.m.  we  began  by  climbing  a  very  steep 
incline  to  the  west  of  the  tower  of  La  Foce.  The 
slope,  which  is  rich  in  pasture-land,  bears  the  name 
of    Vaccaria — (a   place  for   cows).     Large   numbers 

*  This  name  is  given  to  a  group  erf  villages,  .situated  about 
three  hundred  fathoms  above  the  lovel  of  the  sea,  on  the  ridge 
of  the  mountains,  south  of  the  Col  do  la  Foce  di  Guizzavona. 

I  was  accompanied  on  this  excursion  by  MM.  Demony  and 
Lamehe,  members  of  my  administration,  by  two  shepherds  who 
aoted  as  guides,  and  by  two  servants. 


MONTE  D'ORO.  471 


of  these  animals  under  the  care  of  their  herdsmen 
occupy  the  grazing  land  in  summer. 

On  reaching  the  top  of  the  incline,  we  had  a 
view  of  Monte  d'Oro,  from  which  we  were  separated 
by  a  valley  of  considerable  width,  watered  by  one 
of  the  sources  of  the  Vecchio  ;  the  latter  flows  into 
the  Tavignano  below  Corta.*  The  valley  is  shut 
in  on  the  south  by  a  wide  col,  much  higher  than 
the  summit  of  the  incline  where  we  were  standing. 
Our  route  lay  towards  the  col,  in  order  afterwards 
to  reach  the  top  of  the  mountain.  We  therefore 
began  our  descent  into  the  valley,  and  then  followed 
the  coarse  of  the  torrent,  against  stream,  until  we 
reached  a  sheepfold  called  the  Posatoja.  When 
there,  we  were  not  far  from  the  snows  that  cover 
the  narrow  valleys,  and  when  they  melt,  give 
birth  to  streams  that  flow  in  various  directions 
from  the  col,  and  from  the  mountain  itself.  The 
soil  on  which  we  had  walked  since  leaving  the 
summit  of  the  Vaccaria  consists  entirely  of  frag- 
ments of  the  neighbouring  mountains,  whose  an- 
tiquity is  proved  by  the  dry  and  isolated  fissures 
in  them. 

The  summits  of  these  mountains  are  studded  with 

*  The  Vecchio,  as  I  have  already  said,  takes  its  rise  in  the 
lake  of  Monte-Kotondo  ;  hut  it  receives  a  tributary  in  the  waters 
flowing  to  the  east  of  Monte  d'Oro.  Those  flowing  to  the  west 
and  south  enter  the  Liamone  and  the  Gravone. 


472      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

sharp  pinnacles  of  varied  height  and  eccentric 
form.  They  are  known  to  the  shepherds  by  various 
names,  such  as  the  Fixate,  the  Capuccino,  &c.  Their 
broken  fragments,  over  which  we  wended  our  way, 
consist  generally  of  quartz,  steatite,  feldspar,  and 
mica.  The  mixture  of  these  four  substances  pro- 
duces various  combinations,  some  of  which  are 
remarkably  brilliant.  Rock  crystals  are  also  met 
with  in  the  fissures  of  the  granite,  and  especially 
in  a  steep,  narrow  valley  rising  from  north  to 
south  almost  to  the  top  of  Monte  d'Oro,  and  which 
bears  the  name  of  Canale  del  cristallo.  At  the 
time  I  speak  of  it  was  full  of  snow  and  quite 
unapproachable.  The  shepherds  can  only  enter 
it  in  September,  where  they  find  crystals  of  a  fair 
size,  which  they  sell  in  the  towns.  The  vegetation 
of  the  valley  we  had  traversed  in  order  to  reach 
the  Posatoja  is  very  fine.  Beech-trees  and  some 
varieties  of  pine  attain  a  great  height. 

We  passed  part  of  the  night  at  the  sheepfolds 
of  Posatoja.  The  cold  was  bitter.  At  2  a.m.  we 
resumed  our  journey  by  the  light  of  torches  of  a 
resinous  wood,  the  Pinus  pinaster,  and  commenced 
the  ascent  of  the  col  which  closes  in  the  valley 
that  we  had  traversed  the  day  before.  We  reached 
its  summit  at  4  a.m.  Vegetation  had  ceased, 
and  according  to  my  calculation  we  were  at  a 
height    of   about     1800    yards   above   the   level    of 


MONTE  D'ORO.  473 


the  sea.  The  path  was  becoming  very  difficult, 
on  account  of  the  loose  stones  which  rolled  about 
under  our  feet.  We  kept  as  much  as  possible  at 
the  top  of  the  col,  in  order  to  reach  the  eastern 
ridge  of  Monte  d'Oro,  which  we  climbed  by  making 
our  way  round  it  spirally.  After  a  fatiguing  march 
of  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  we  found  ourselves 
separated  from  the  summit  of  the  mountain  only 
by  a  mass  of  rock,  which  stood  out  in  an  almost 
hemispheric  shape.  Our  difficulties  now  increased. 
In  certain  spots  we  were  obliged  to  allow  ourselves 
to  be  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  our  guides. 
Lastly,  after  much  labour,  four  of  us,  including 
myself,  stood  on  the  highest  point  of  all.  The 
others  had  dropped  behind  at  places  more  or  less 
distant  from  our  journey's  end. 

It  was  5.30  a.m.  when  we  found,  ourselves  on 
the  top  of  Monte  d'Oro.  The  sun  was  beginning 
to  shine  on  one  of  the  fairest  scenes  of  nature, 
which  although  greatly  resembling  that  I  had  beheld 
a  year  before  at  Monte-Rotondo,  was  not  the  less 
impressive.  The  whole  of  Corsica  and  all  its 
mountains  lay  at  our  feet,  with  the  exception  of 
Monte-Rotondo,  whose  superior  height  was  scarcely 
perceptible,  of  Monte  Cinto  and  the  peak  of  Orezza 
at  the  same  height  as  ourselves.     Beyond  this  group 

*  The  difference  in  height  between  Monte-Eotondo  and 
Monte  d'Oro  is  but  twenty  yards. 


474      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

of  mountains  piled  up,  so  to  speak,  one  on  the  other, 
I  descried  on  the  east  the  plains  of  Aleria  and 
Fiumorbo,  the  pools  of  Urbino  and  Diana,  the 
course  of  the  Tavignano,  then  the  sea,  the  islands  of 
Monte-Cristo  and  Elba,  the  coast  of  Italy,  Montenero 
and  the  Maremma  of  Tuscany ;  on  the  north  the 
island  of  Capraja,  and  in  the  background  the 
Apennines  of  the  Genoa  Riviera ;  on  the  west 
the  barren  mountains  of  the  Niolo,  the  sea  of 
France  and  the  coasts  of  my  native  land.  To- 
wards the  south  I  could  perceive  the  Gulfs  of 
Sagona,  of  Ajaccio,  of  Valinco,  the  island  of  Asmara, 
and  Sardinia  hanging  over  the  sea  like  a  huge 
cloud. 

After  enjoying  this  delightful  landscape  for  some 
time,  I  employed  myself  in  an  examination  of 
the  spot  on  which  I  stood,  and  of  the  configuration 
of  the  mountain. 

Monte  d'Oro  much  resembles  Monte-Rotondo  in 
shape,  that  is  to  say,  it  also  is  like  an  amphitheatre, 
of  which  the  arena  is  formed  by  a  lake  about  a 
hundred  fathoms  in  diameter.  But  the  destruction 
of  the  walls  is  much  more  advanced,  and  the  land- 
slips are  more  considerable  than  at  Monte-Rotondo. 
Towards  1 1 10  west  and  south,  in  fact,  these  walls 
are  almost  entirely  destroyed  ;  only  a  few  low  peaks 
are  standing,  where  tops  are  already  crumbling 
away,    and    which    exist    but    as     witnesses    to     the 


MONTE  D'OBO.  475 


ancient  shape  of  the  mountain.  Our  own  stand- 
point was  on  one  of  these  pinnacles,  higher  than  the 
others  and  composed  of  fragments  of  broken  rock, 
heaped  up  and  evidently  broken  off  from  some 
higher  pinnacle  which  has  entirely  disappeared. 
All  these  fragments  are  of  the  same  nature  as  those 
we  saw  in  the  valleys  or  on  the  lower  cols  ;  there 
is  no  sign  of  volcanic  or  calcareous  origin,  no  trace  of 
shells,  nor  any  mark  of  the  former  presence  of  water 
nor  of  the  action  of  fire,  but  everywhere  an  ap- 
pearance of  decay  and  decrepitude  ;  no  fertile  earth, 
unless  such  as  is  brought  by  the  winds,  and  collected 
in  the  fissures  of  the  rock,  where  it  is  increased 
by  the  decay  of  the  vegetable  growths  that  it 
supports.  The  height  of  Monte  d'Oro  is  esti- 
mated in  the  '  Annuaire  du  Bureau  des  Longitudes ' 
at  2652  yards.  At  the  top  of  the  mountain  the 
temperature  was  cold,  but  not  unbearably  so ;  but 
respiration  was  rather  difficult.  A  great  part  of 
the  lake  was  still  frozen,  and  the  ice  covered  with 
snow.* 

The  only  inhabitant  of  these  wild  regions  is  the 
moufflon  or  musmon  (Ovis  Amnion).    We  saw  several 

*  There  had  been  no  ice  the  previous  year  at  Monte-Rotondo, 
although  it  is  higher,  but  we  made  our  excursion  thither  at  the 
end  of  August,  and  it  seems  that  at  that  season  only  the  snow- 
disappears.  It  lies  all  the  year  through  on  the  north  side  of 
Monte  d'Oro,  on  account  of  its  particular  shape  and  the  depth 
of  its  crevasses. 


476      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


of  them  skipping  along  and  bounding  over  preci- 
pices with  wonderful  agility.  In  such  elevated 
regions  these  animals  feed  principally  on  the  sheep- 
plantain  (Plantago  ovina),  which  grows  abundantly 
between  the  stones,  and  which  the  shepherds  have 
named  Erba  muffrina.  The  vegetable  products  are 
much  the  same  as  those  I  remarked  on  Monte- 
Rotondo,  and  I  recognised  with  pleasure  the 
Xeranthemum  frigidum  creeping  over  the  rocks  at 
the  foot  of  Monte  d'Oro. 

We  took  the  same  path  for  our  return  that  we 
had  taken  to  ascend  the  mountain,  and  reached  the 
Posatoja  before  noon.  At  4  o'clock  we  arrived  at 
the  Foce  di  Guizzavona,  where  our  horses  were  in 
waiting  for  us,  and  we  were  back  at  Bogognano  the 
same  day,  the  11th  Thermidor,  at  8  p.m. 

Immediately  on  my  return  from  this  excursion, 
one  of  the  most  interesting  that  I  made  in  Corsica,  I 
received  the  Senatus-Consultum  of  the  14th  and  17th 
Thermidor,  conferring  on  the  First  Consul  power  for 
life,  and  modifying  various  parts  of  the  Constitution 
of  year  VIII.  These  were  the  preludes  to  greater 
changes,  already  under  consideration,  but  which  it 
was  not  as  yet  safe  to  attempt,  so  hazardous  was  the 
word  '  heredity,'  and  heredity  alone  was  wanting  to 
complete  the  conversion  of  the  Republic  into  a 
Monarchy.  I  made  solemn  proclamation  of  these 
new  decrees;  a  popular  iete  was  held  at  Ajaccio  ;   I 


THE  BONAPARTE  FAMILY.  477 

gave  a  ball  and  all  went  off  decorously,  but  the 
public  displayed  neither  joy  nor  satisfaction.  There 
was,  on  the  whole,  more  surprise  than  enthusiasm. 
People  knew  not  how  to  reconcile  this  surprising 
rise  with  their  still  recent  recollections  of  Bona- 
parte's family,  whom  all  the  inhabitants  of  Ajaccio 
had  known  in  a  rank  so  far  removed  from  their 
present  greatness.  The  old  proverb,  "  No  man  is  a 
prophet  in  his  own  country,"  appeared  to  me  in  this 
case  to  receive  a  fresh  confirmation.  But  at  the 
same  time  the  feelings  of  envy  that  were  exhibited 
in  Napoleon's  own  country  *  at  the  very  time  when 
his  fortune  was  so  greatly  in  the  ascendant,  gave  me 
opportunities  of  acquiring  some  information  on  the 
origin  of  his  family,  and  I  did  not  neglect  them.  I 
will  set  down  in  this  place  the  results  of  my 
inquiries,  made  in  the  very  birthplace  of  Napoleon, 
among  his  own  countrymen  and  either  rivals  or 
friends  of  his  family. 

The  Bonapartes  descend  from  a  noble  Florentine 
family.  During  the  troublous  times  of  the  Republic 
one  of  their  ancestors  withdrew  to  San  Miniato,f  a 

*  The  name  of  Napoleon,  which  is  a  common  baptismal  name 
in  Corsica,  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  the  Senatus-Consultum 
of  the  14th  Thermidor. 

|  One  Jacopo  Buonaparte  wrote  an  account  of  the  sack  of 
Kome  in  1527.  He  was  present,  and  collected  the  particulars 
day  by  day.  On  the  title  page  of  his  book,  which  was  published 
at  Cologne  in  1756,  he  is  described  as  Gentiluomo  Samminiatese. 


478       MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

small  town  ten  leagues  from  Florence.  The  last 
descendant  of  this  branch  of  the  family  was  a  Canon, 
who  was  still  living  at  San  Miniato,  and  whom 
Bonaparte  visited  when,  in  year  IV.,  he  went  to 
Florence. 

Another  Bonaparte  settled  at  Sarzano  in  the  State 
of  Genoa,  and  from  this  branch  proceed  the  Bona- 
partes  of  Ajaccio.  They  possessed  some  landed 
property  there,  and  have  always  been  regarded  as 
distinguished  both  by  birth  and  fortune.  Many 
years  after  the  union  of  Corsica  with  France,  which 
took  place  in  1769,  Charles  Bonaparte  was  sent  to 
Paris ;  as  deputy  from  the  nobles,  and  one  of  his 
daughters,  Elisa  Bonaparte,  was  educated  at  St.  Cyr, 
which  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  their  noble  birth.  M. 
Charles  Bonaparte  was  a  very  handsome  man.  He 
died  at  Montpellier  in  1785,  after  a  singular  illness, 
of  which  I  have  already  spoken. 

As  to  the  women  ;  the  mother  of  the  First  Consul, 
Madame  Lsetitia  Bonaparte,  whose  beauty  was  most 
remarkable,  is  a  Ramolino,  a  family  of  Ajaccio, 
which  claims  to  be  connected  with  tlie  Ornanos, 
nil  hough  it  is  not  considered  to  be  noble.  The 
mother  of  Madame  La'titia  Bonaparte  was  by  birth  a 
Pietra-Santa,  a,  family  of  very  moderate  rank  at 
Sarteno.  On  the  death  of  Ramolino,  her  first 
husband,  she  had  married  a  Swiss,  named  Fesch, 
whose  family  held  ;m  honourable  position  at  Bale, 


RECALL   OF   THE  AUTEOB.  479 

where  they  were  established  as  bankers.  By  her 
second  marriage  she  had  one  son,  at  that  time  Arch- 
bishop of  Lyons  and  afterwards  Cardinal,  and  con- 
sequently step-brother  of  Madame  Laetitia  Bonaparte, 
and  uncle  on  the  mother's  side  of  the  First  Consul 
and  of  his  brothers  and  sisters.  One  of  Madame 
LaBtitia's  sisters  had  married  a  Paravicini,  who, 
during  my  residence  in  Corsica,  was  Commissioner 
for  the  Navy  at  Ajaccio,  and  was,  on  the  female  side, 
uncle  by  marriage  to  Napoleon.  Lastly,  the  son  of 
one  of  Madame  Lsetitia's  brothers  was  at  the  period 
of  which  I  speak  director  of  the  public  taxes.  He 
was  first  cousin  to  Napoloon.  This  Ramolino  was 
afterwards  member  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  in 
1822  and  1823. 

After  the  fetes  at  Ajaccio  in  honour  of  the  Life- 
Consulship  and  of  the  new  institutions  that  the 
Senatus-Consultum  of  the  14th  and  17th  Thermidor 
had  introduced  in  France,  I  returned  to  Bogognano, 
to  remain  there  during  the  rest  of  the  hot  season.  I 
had  resigned  myself  at  last  to  the  continued  exercise 
of  the  laborious  duties  of  my  office,  for  the  Paris 
authorities  had  refused  to  grant  me  even  the  short 
holiday  I  had  applied  for.  But  at  the  very 
moment  that  I  gave  up  all  hope  of  returning  to 
France,  an  unexpected  incident  recalled  me  thither. 
In  a  report  of  the  Minister  of  Finance  on  the 
measures  I  had  taken  relative  to  taxation  in  certain 


480      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


cantons,  in  which  I  had  remitted  arrears  that 
they  were  unable  to  pay,  those  measures  were 
represented  as  an  excessive  encroachment  on  the 
powers  delegated  to  me,  and  the  First  Consul  was 
induced  to  bring  my  mission  to  a  close.  He  re- 
placed the  two  departments  of  Corsica  under  the 
rule  of  the  Constitution  on  the  1st  Brumaire,  year  XI. 
(Oct.  23,  1802).  Thus  from  a  moment's  ill-humour 
I  obtained  what  had  been  denied  to  my  most  pressing 
entreaties.  At  the  first  news  of  a  determination  so 
ardently  desired  by  me,  I  hastened  to  put  all  the 
affairs  of  my  administration  in  order,  and  to  make 
preparations  for  my  journey. 

Before  taking  a  final  leave  of  Corsica,  I  shall 
give  a  sketch  of  the  state  of  the  island  at  the  time 
of  my  departure. 

On  my  arrival  there  in  the  month  of  Grerminal, 
year  IX.,  I  had  found  part  of  Corsica  in  a  condition 
of  internal  disturbance,  and  the  roads  infested  by 
men  who,  having  incurred  the  penalties  of  the  law, 
bad  sought  safety  in  the  mountains  and  who  fell 
suddenly  on  travellers  or  solitary  soldiers.  I  left 
the  country  tranquil,  its  roads  safe,  and  means  of 
communication  restored.  The  Extraordinary  Cri- 
minal Tribunal  that  I  had  established  had  answered 
my  expectations.  Offences  against  the  laws  had 
been  repressed  or  punished.  There  was  entire  con- 
fidence in  the  administration,  for  its  impartiality  was 


HEREDITARY  FEUDS.  481 

well  known.  But  this  very  impartiality  bad  injured 
many  private  interests,  and  had  raised  up  enemies 
for  me  who  were  sufficiently  powerful  to  create 
serious  difficulties.  I  had  been  driven  to  take  extra- 
ordinary proceedings  against  the  General  in  command 
of  the  Division,  and  the  progress  of  improvement 
had  been  partly  obstructed.  However,  taking  things 
on  the  whole,  the  state  of  the  country  was  ameliorated. 
But  in  order  that  the  small  amount  of  good  I  had  been 
able  to  effect,  might  become  consolidated  and  might 
penetrate  the  mass  of  the  people  and  affect  their 
customs,  time  and  perseverance  in  the  use  of  similar 
means  were  needed.  In  that  respect,  therefore,  I 
must  own  that  I  left  Corsica  in  the  same  state  in 
which  I  had  found  it  on  both  my  missions  there. 
Civilisation  had  made  no  perceptible  progress.*  The 
same  spirit  of  revenge  and  personal  enmity  prevailed. 
I  had  often  been  obliged  to  summon  the  chiefs  of 
families  divided  by  hereditary  feuds  into  my  presence, 
and  to  act  as  arbitrator,  in  order  to  establish  a  kind 

*  The  following  affords  a  proof  of  this.  The  road-making  I 
had  undertaken  in  Corsica  was  undoubtedly  a  great  benefit  to 
the  inhabitants,  who  were  employed  on  the  works  and  were 
well  paid.  The  engineer  at  the  head  of  the  works  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Bogognano  had  sent  to  Ajaccio  for  wheels  on 
which  to  remove  the  beams  intended  for  the  construction  of  a 
bridge.  These  wheels  were  left  in  the  road,  and  during  the 
night  the  workmen  set  fire  to  the  wooden  spokes  in  order  to  get 
the  iron,  which  they  carried  off  and  hid  in  the  mountains. 
Does  not  this  read  like  an  anecdote  of  South-Sea  savages? 

VOL.    I.  2    I 


482       MEMOIBS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

of  treaty  of  peace  between  them,  and  I  had  not 
always  succeeded.  Acts  of  private  vengeance  had 
been  perpetrated  more  than  once,  under  my  very 
eyes,  and  in  spite  of  all  my  endeavours  I  was  power- 
less to  punish  such  crimes.  I  will  give  an  instance 
of  this,  so  as  to  afford  some  idea  of  the  vindictive 
spirit  of  the  inhabitants,  and  of  the  light  in  which 
they  themselves  regarded  such  acts. 

On  the  day  of  my  arrival  at  Bogognano,  17th  Mes- 
sidor,  year  IX.,  a  private  vendetta  cost  two  men  their 
lives.  About  eight  years  previously  an  inhabitant 
of  that  canton  had  killed  one  of  his  neighbours,  the 
father  of  two  children.  When  these  children  had 
reached  their  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  year,  and  were 
consequently  of  an  age  to  avenge  their  father,  they 
left  their  own  part  of  the  country  to  watch  for  the 
murderer,  who  was  on  his  guard  and  dared  not 
venture  far  from  the  village. 

A  few  days  before  my  arrival  they  had  been  seen 
in  the  neighbourhood,  and  on  the  very  day  of  my 
arrival  at  Bogognano,  they  had  come  upon  their 
enemy  playing  at  cards  under  a  tree,  at  a  short 
distance  from  the  house  in  which  I  intended  taking 
up  my  residence.  The  youths  fired  four  times 
and  killed  their  man,  but  one  shot  struck  and 
killed  another  man,  who  was  sleeping  a  few 
yards  away.  The  latter  was  a  near  kinsman  of 
tli''  young  brothers,  who,  after  committing  the  deed, 


THE    VENDETTA.  483 


disappeared,  no  one  making  any  attempt  to   secure 
them . 

This  tragedy  made  no  sensation  whatever  in  the 
country.  The  inhabitants,  in  fact,  appeared  pleased 
rather  than  shocked  by  it.  They  told  me  that  it 
was  fortunately  the  last  vendetta  due  in  Bogognano, 
and  that  now  that  it  had  been  accomplished,  there 
was  no  fear  of  further  disturbance  to  their  tran- 
quillity. The  families  on  both  sides  considered  the 
reprisal  just  and  according  to  rule,  and  no  one 
interfered.*      The  women  took    possession    of  their 

*  The  degree  of  kindred  in  which  the  vendetta  is  of  obliga- 
tion is  regulated  by  ancient  customs,  and  there  are  instances  of 
discussions  on  the  point  between  two  individuals  belonging  to 
families  at  variance  with  each  other,  which  have  ended  in   a 
friendly  manner  when  one  has  been  able  to  prove  to  the  other 
that  he  was  not  within  the  degree  of  kindred  in  which  legitimate 
vengeance  could  be  taken.     In  addition  to  the  sanguinary  code 
on  the  subject,  there  is  a  curious  feeling  of  respect  for  religious 
prejudices.     I  am  indebted  to  M.  Galeazzini,  Prefect  of  Liamone, 
for  a  remarkable  anecdote   bearing  on  this  subject.      An  in- 
habitant of  the  village  of  Peri  comes  across  a  kinsman  of  one  of 
his  enemies,  engaged  in  digging  in  his  field.     He  thinks  the 
opportunity  a  favourable  one,  and,  raising  his  gun,  he  calls  out 
to  his  man,  "  Now  then,  say  your  In  manus!  I  must  kill  you !  " 
"  No,"  replies  the  other,  "  I  will  not  say  it;  you  have  no  right 
to  kill  me,  I  am  not  your  enemy."     And  they  begin  to  discuss 
the  degree  of  relationship.     At  last,  the   inhabitant  of  Peri, 
seeing  that  he  cannot  induce  his  adversary  to  say  his  In  manus, 
lowers  his  gun  and  departs,  willing  rather  to  miss  an  oppor- 
tunity of  revenge  than  to  commit  a  mortal  sin  by  killing  a  man 
not  within  the  prescribed  degrees,  and  who  had  not  said  his 
prayers. 

2  i  2 


484      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

dead,  wept  over  them,  buried  them  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  country,  and  there  was  an 
end  of  it.* 

Nevertheless  I  wrote  on  that  same  day  to  Ajaccio, 
and  gave  the  most  stringent  orders  for  the  pursuit 
of  the  two  murderers  ;  but  all  my  endeavours  to  find 
them  were  in  vain,  and  I  thus  became  convinced 
of  my  powerlessness  to  remedy  an  evil  which  was 
continually  strengthened  by  the  strongest  prejudices, 
and  by  a  deeply  rooted  though  mistaken  point  of 
honour.  What  can  be  done,  what  can  be  attempted 
with  men  who  gladly  incur  certain  death  in  order 
to  carry  out  a  vendetta,  in  their  eyes  not  only 
a  righteous  one,  but  a  duty  from  which  the  lapse 
of  twenty  or  even  of  fifty  years  does  not  free  them, 
and  also  a  debt  to  be  handed  down  from  generation 
to  generation  ?  What  argument  will  avail  with 
these  men  of  passionate  nature,  who  look  daily  into 
the  chest  that  contains  their  clothes  at  the  blood- 
stained  handkerchief  of  him  whom  they  are  destined 
to  avenge?      This  silent  but  ever-present   proof  of 

The  women  of  Bogognano  watched  the  corpses  all  night, 
uttering  1  lie  most  doleful  wailings.  They  followed  them  the 
next  morning  to  the  cemetery,  walking  1w<>  and  two,  and  rend- 
ing the  air  with  their  lamentations.  All  wore  veils  of  blue 
stuff,  called  veleri,  which  is  worn  as  a  p<  1 1 icoat and  then  brought 
ovit  the  head.      Sonic  men  supported  liaise  w  ||,»e  grief  appeared 

the  deepest,  bu1  with  an  air  of  indifference  that  made  the  whole 
thing  seem  aoting  or,  a1  hast,  a  vain  ceremony. 


THE   VENDETTA.  4b5 


the  murder,  which  it  is  their  duty  to  punish,  is  a 
terrible  witness  not  to  be  removed  until  vengeance 
is  accomplished  !  What  can  be  done  with  men  who 
from  childhood  have  accustomed  themselves  to  the 
use  of  firearms,  only  for  the  sake  of  possessing  an 
unfailing  means  of  keeping  the  oath  they  have 
sworn  to  their  mother,  to  follow  to  the  death  the 
enemy  who  made  her  a  widow  and  her  children 
orphans.*  The  spread  of  education,  an  increase  of 
population  protected  by  salutary  laws,  the  introduc- 
tion of  civilisation  into  the  interior,  speedy  justice, 
an  impartial  Government,  and,  above  all,  Time 
itself,  can  alone  alter  these  barbarous  customs. 
Very  few  of  those  means  were  at  my  command, 
and  during  the  course  of  my  mission,  I  had  the 
pain    of    witnessing   the   evil    without    having  the 

*  Corsicans  are  very  expert  in  the  use  of  firearms,  and  have 
a  kind  of  veneration  fur  a  first-rate  shot.  The  following 
anecdote  was  related  to  me ;  if  it  be  true — -and  I  cannot  vouch 
for  it — it  would  show  to  what  an  extent  Corsicans  carry  their 
admiration  for  that  accomplishment.  A  man  is  informed  that 
one  of  his  sons  has  just  been  assassinated,  in  consequence  of  a 
family  feud.  He  proceeds  to  the  spot  and  recognises  his  son. 
But  on  examining  the  body  he  perceives  that  the  three  balls 
with  which  the  gun  was  loaded  have  all  entered  the  heart. 
Every  other  feeling  yields  to  admiration  for  such  supreme  skill, 
and  he  exclaims  enthusiastically,  "  Ma  vedete,  che  gran  colpo  !  "x 
These  are  almost  the  words  of  Prexaspes  to  Cambyses  in 
Herodotus.  "  My  lord,  the  god  himself  would  not  have  aimed 
so  true !  " 

1  "  I3ut  see  !  what  a  grand  shot !  " 


486       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

power  to  eradicate  it.  It  was  with  satisfaction, 
therefore,  that  I  took  leave  of  a  country  where  it 
was  so  difficult  to  do  good  and  so  easy  to  do  evil. 

Before  embarking,  I  once  more  visited  the 
beautiful  mountains  of  Face  di  Guizzavona,  and 
those  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bogognano,  which  I 
had  already  explored  with  great  interest.  During 
this  final  excursion  I  enjoyed  the  spectacle  of  a 
storm,  whose  splendour  has  remained  graven  on 
my  memory  as  a  solemn  token  of  farewell  from 
those  wild  regions.  I  returned  late  in  the  evening 
to  Bogognano,  and  proceeded  next  day  to  Ajaccio, 
where  I  embarked  for  Marseilles. 


(     487     ) 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Author  returns  to  Paris — His  reception  by  the  First  Consul 
— Monarchical  customs  and  strict  etiquette  with  which 
the  First  Consul  surrounded  himself — Joseph  Bonaparte 
imparts  the  secret  designs  and  great  projects  of  the  First 
Consul  to  the  Author— Lord  Whitworth,  the  English 
Ambassador  in  Paris — General  Moreau  is  feted  at  the 
Ministry  of  War — Government-mourning  on  the  occasion 
of  the  death  of  General  Leclerc — New  coinage  with  the 
effigy  of  the  First  Consul — Lavish  endowment  of  the  Senate 
— The  political  relations  between  France  and  England  be- 
come strained — Irritation  of  the  First  Consul  with  the 
English  Press  —Conversation  between  Bonaparte  and  Lord 
Whitworth — Colonel  Sebastiani's  Eeport,  published  in  the 
Moniteur — The  King's  speech  to  Parliament  is  hostile  to 
France — Effect  produced  by  it  in  Paris — Progress  of  the 
crisis  and  of  the  negotiations,  official  and  secret,  prior  to  the 
definitive  rupture  between  France  and  England — Simul- 
taneous departure  of  Lord  Whitworth  from  Paris  and 
of  General  Andreossy  from  London — Appendix:  Lord 
Whitworth's  Despatch  of  February  21, 1803,  to  Lord  Hawkes- 
bury. 

I  embarked,  on  the  2nd  Brumaire,  year  XI.  (Octo- 
ber 24,  1802),  on  board  La  Fortune,  Captain  Riouffe. 
Contrary  winds  obliged   us  to  anchor   first   at   the 


488       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

Isle  of  Porteros,  one  of  the  Hyeres,  where  I  stayed 
two  days  ;  and  afterwards  at  Ciotat,  a  small  town 
in  the  Department  of  Yar.  The  bad  weather 
continued,  and  prevented  our  voyage  by  sea,  so 
I  resolved  on  proceeding  to  Marseilles  by  land.  I 
arrived  there  on  the  9th  Brumaire  (October  31), 
remained  two  days,  waiting  for  my  luggage,  which 
I  had  left  on  board  at  Ciotat,  and  reached 
Paris  on  the  21st  Brumaire  (November  12). 

It  was  not  altogether  without  apprehension  that 
I  found  myself  once  more  in  the  capital.  The 
intrigues  against  me  during  the  course  of  my 
mission,  and  the  somewhat  sudden  recall  that  had 
brought  it  to  a  close,  made  me  anticipate  an  un- 
favourable reception.  But  it  was  not  so.  Joseph 
Bonaparte,  whom  I  saw  first,  welcomed  me  most 
cordially.  Not  only  was  he  free  from  the  prejudices 
against  me  which  various  members  of  his  family  had 
manifested,  but  he  had  always  warmly  defended  my 
motives  and  my  conduct.  He  reassured  me  as  to 
the  feelings  of  the  First  Consul,  who,  he  undertook 
1<>  say,  had  more  correctly  than  any  other  person 
appreciated  the  difficulties  of  my  position,  and 
whom  I  should  find  quite  satisfied  with  my  discharge 
of  ils  du lies. 

Bonaparte  was  absent  at  the  time  of  my  arrival 
in  Paris,  and  lie  did  nol  return  to  St.  Cloud. 
his   habitual    residence    in    autumn,    until   die  22ml 


•  THE  AUTHOR'S  FAVOURABLE  RECEPTION.   489 

Brumaire  (November  13).*  The  following  day  at 
noon  he  received  the  Council  of  State,  and  I  joined 
my  colleagues  in  order  to  be  present  at  that  audience. 
His  first  words  were  pleasant.  He  told  me,  jestingly, 
that  I  had  got  into  trouble  with  the  Ministers ;  that 
Ministers  did  not  like  Administrators-General  who 
acted  on  their  own  ideas,  and  that  I  must  make  it 
up  with  them.  When  he  had  finished,  and  heard 
what  I  had  to  say  in  reply,  I  approached  the 
Ministers  who  were  present,  and  remarked  with 
pleasure  that  the  favourable  reception  just  accorded 
to  me  by  the  great  man  had  already  half-effected 
our  reconciliation.  Hands  were  stretched  out  to  me, 
I  was  embraced,  and  I  might  believe  myself  restored 
to  favour.  Another  and  more  serious  conversation 
on  the  mission  I  had  just  accomplished,  and  on 
Corsica  generally,  ensued.  Some  points  of  my 
conduct  were  discussed ;  the  First  Consul  asserted 
that  I  had  been  too  kind,  that  I  had  leaned  too  mucli 
to  conciliation,  and  that  a  little  severity  would  have 
done  better.  On  the  whole,  he  did  justice  to  my 
intentions,  and  to  the  principles  of  equity  and 
impartiality  on  which  I  had  acted.  In  short,  I  had 
every  reason  to  be  pleased;  and,  indeed,  to  be  re- 
proached with  an  excess  of  kindness  and  moderation 
in  the  exercise  of  an  administration  for  which  I  had 

*  He  had  been  inspecting  the  Seine  Inferieure  and  Calvados, 
and  the  sea-coasts  of  those  two  departments. 


490      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


received  such  elastic  powers,  was  praise  rather  than 
criticism.  The  Consuls  informed  me  that  I  was  to 
return  to  the  Council  of  State  in  the  Section  of  the 
Interior,  and  as  that  was  the  sole  reward  I  coveted, 
I  had  nothing  more  to  ask  for. 

I  was  now  at  ease  concerning  my  own  future, 
and  I  began  to  look  about  me,  and  to  observe  the 
new  aspect  of  things  with  astonishment.  What 
changes  during  an  absence  of  less  than  two  years  ! 
Monarchical  customs,  which  were  beginning  to 
appear  when  I  left  Paris,  had  extended  in  every 
direction,  and  what  little  had  remained  of  austere 
Republican  forms  at  the  time  of  my  departure  from 
the  capital  had  now  entirely  disappeared.  Gorgeous 
liveries,  sumptuous  garments,  similar  to  those  worn 
in  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.,  had  succeeded  to  the 
military  fashions,  which,  during  the  Revolution,  had 
been  adopted  even  in  the  dress  of  civilians.  No 
more  boots,  sabres,  or  cockades,  these  were  re- 
placed by  tights  and  silk  stockings,  buckled-shoes, 
dress-swords,  and  hats  held  under  the  arm.  All 
this,  however,  was  as  in  an  early  stage,  and  the 
awkwardness  of  some  persons  not  yet  accustomed 
to  these  Court  fashions,  together  with  certain  oddities 
in  the  dross  of  others,  who  still  retained  traces  of 
the  fashions  they  had  just  given  up,  formed  an 
extraordinary  spectacle.  1  was  not  more  free  from 
incongruity  than  others,  and  my  coat,  with  turned- 


SIGNIFICANT  CHANGES.  491 


back  facings,  worn  with  white  silk  stockings  and 
a  sword,  shocked  the  educated  taste  of  several  of  my 
colleagues  whose  costumes  did  not  offer  a  similar 
contrast.  Fortunately  I  was  not  singular  in  my 
offence,  the  First  Consul  was  equally  subject  to 
criticism.  With  a  superb  coat  of  violet  velvet, 
magnificently  embroidered  in  gold  and  silk,  he  wore 
a  sword,  white  silk  stockings,  gold  buckles  in  his 
shoes,  and  a  black  cravat !  This  was  certainly  a 
serious  blunder  in  dress  !  * 

The  change  was  still  more  ajjparent  in  the  reality 
of  things  than  in  their  outward  appearance.  The 
Tuileries  and  St.  Cloud  were  no  longer,  as  I  had 
left  them,  the  seat  of  Government,  the  abode  of  the 
first  Magistrate  of  a  Republic,  but  the  Court  of  a 
Sovereign.  Severe  etiquette  prevailed  there ;  offi- 
cers attached  to  the  person,  prescribed  honours  paid 
to  the  ladies,  a  privileged  family  ;  in  short,  every- 
thing except  the  name  of  Consul  was  monarchical, 
and  that  name  was  destined  soon  to  disappear. 

The  first  impression  made  on  me  by  this  novel 
pomp  and  display  was  disagreeable  and  painful. 
No  one  could  be  more  convinced  than  I  of  the 
necessity  of  surrounding  the  Government  of  a 
great  nation  with  dignity,  and  even,  if  desired,  with 

*  Bonaparte  rarely  wore  a  civilian  costume,  he  appeared 
generally  in  the  uniform  of  a  Colonel  of  Grenadiers,  or  of  the 
Guard's  light  infantry.  I  have  several  times  seen  him  preside 
at  the  Council  of  State  in  the  uniform  of  a  Councillor. 


492      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

a  certain  magnificence,  but  I  should  have  wished  to 
discern  the  Government  through  all  this  splendour, 
and  not  an  individual,  still  less  his  family.  Among 
all  that  I  saw  and  remarked  at  that  time,  the  visit 
of  the  great  bodies  of  the  State  and  of  the  ambas- 
sadors to  Madame  Bonaparte  impressed  me  most.  I 
had  presented  myself  with  the  other  State  Coun- 
cillors. She  rose  to  receive  us,  remained  standing 
during  the  address  of  our  President,  thauked  us  for 
the  sentiments  expressed  by  the  Council  of  State, 
then  seating  herself  without  inviting  us  to  do  the 
same,  carried  on  a  conversation  on  ordinary  topics 
for  a  short  time,  after  which  she  again  rose  and 
dismissed  us. 

A  fewT  davs  later  I  returned  to  St.  Cloud  to  be 
present  at  the  audience  given  every  Sunday  by 
the  First  Consul,  or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  I 
returned  thither  to  pay  my  court.  I  found  the 
members  of  the  principal  bodies  of  the  State,  and  the 
Tribunals,  Generals,  Ministers,  and  Bishops  ranged 
in  a  line  in  the  great  gallery.  The  First  Consul 
|>;issed  through,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  by  some 
members  of  Ins  family,  by  the  other  two  Consuls,  and 
by  I  lis  civil  and  military  officers,  on  his  way  to  a 
sung    mass.*       On    his    return,    he    paused    in    the 

All  limi^li  flic  ancient,  (Jrcgoi  ian  Calendar  was  not  yei  re- 
stored, Sunday  was  religiously  observed  after  the  re-establish- 
ment "l  I  Mvinr  worship. 


THE  NEW  ETIQUETTE.  403 

gallery,  spoke  to  a  great  many  persons,  received 
petitions,  and  then  withdrew  to  his  private  apart- 
ments. All  was  regulated  by  the  most  punctilious 
etiquette,  and  the  Second  and  Third  Consuls  were 
as  subservient  to  it  as  the  rest  of  the  crowd ;  they 
were  present  in  the  gallery,  not  as  colleagues  of 
the  First  Consul,  but  as  courtiers.  They  had  no 
distinguishing  suite,  and  could  only  be  recognised 
by  their  dress ;  whereas  Bonaparte,  surrounded  by 
aides-de-camp,  by  Prefects  of  the  Palace,  and  officers 
of  his  guard,  occupied  the  principal  position.  Thus 
the  slight  semblance  of  divided  authority  had  already 
almost  entirely  disappeared,  and  those  very  men 
who,  at  first,  had  been  called  to  a  share  in  it,  were 
now  consenting  to  reduce  that  share,  externally  at 
least,  to  nothing. 

But  I  have  said  enough  on  this  subject.  I  have 
pointed  out  the  decisive  steps  that  the  First  Consul 
had  taken  during  my  absence  towards  the  end  which 
he  soon  afterwards  attained,  and  I  have  also  re- 
corded the  docility  with  which  the  public  lent  them- 
selves to  his  purposes. 

On  my  return  from  Corsica,  my  former  intimacy 
with  Joseph  Bonaparte  became  yet  closer,  and  from 
that  period  dates  the  confidence  he  has  never  ceased 
to  repose  in  me  and  the  friendship  which  still  exists 
between  us,  notwithstanding  the  distance  that 
divides  us.     To  that  friendship,  to  that  confidence, 


494      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

I  owe  my  acquaintance  with  many  secret  facts 
which  throw  a  strong  light  on  the  hidden  springs 
that  worked  that  marvellous  drama,  so  ephemeral 
when  compared  with  its  grandeur,  of  which  as- 
tonished Europe  was  for  twelve  years  the  silent 
spectator.  The  greater  part  of  what  I  am  about  to 
relate  had  its  origin  in  my  almost  daily  interviews 
at  this  period  with  Joseph  Bonaparte.  The  lapse 
of  years,  and  the  rapid  fall  of  the  Man  who 
created  and  then  destro}7ed  his  own  power,  bring 
back  many  details  into  the  domain  of  History  that 
have  ceased  to  be  secrets ;  I  give  these  particu- 
lars, therefore,  without  fear  of  misconstruction  of 
my  motive. 

My  earlier  conversations  with  Joseph  Bonaparte 
turned  at  first  on  his  own  position,  and  afterwards 
led  to  an  exposition  of  the  projects  then  entertained 
by  the  First  Consul.  As  it  is  easy  to  trace  the 
plans  he  had  formed,  the  means  which  lie  proposed 
to  himself  to  employ,  and  the  reflections  which 
such  bold  designs  called  up  in  our  minds,  I  will 
simply  transcribe  the  r4sumi  of  these  conversations 
made  in  my  note-book  on  the  very  days  on  which 
they  were  held. 

After  expressing  to  Joseph  Bonaparte  my  surrjrise 
at  the  position*  in  which  I  found  him,  I  said, 
"I  Lad   expected  to  sec  you  invested  with  greater 

.Joseph  lionaparte  w;is  ;it  .thai  lime  .simply  a  .senator. 


POSITION  OF  JOSEPH  BONAPARTE.  495 

power  and  influence.  I  thought  that  you  would 
have  aspired  to  personal  distinction.  And,  in  fact, 
since  the  First  Consul  allows  and  even  exacts  such 
distinction  for  his  wife,  it  follows  that  the  members 
of  his  family,  and  especially  his  brothers,  should 
enjoy  it  also.  Yet  I  find  you  without  rank, 
without  an  establishment,  and  without  followers. 
The  life-appointment  of  the  Second  and  Third 
Consuls*  is  an  act  of  hostility  to  you.  It  gives 
them  a  present  position  which  you  have  not,  and 
will  secure  to  them,  at  the  death  of  your  brother, 
a  possibility  which  should  always  be  in  your 
mind,  influence  that  you  might  then  seek  in  vain 
to  obtain,  and  that  you  might  bitterly  regret  not 
having  secured.  It  is  time,  I  think,  for  you  to  rouse 
yourself  from  this  condition  of  insignificance,  what- 
ever may  be  its  charm.  As  no  successor  to  the 
First  Consul  can  possibly  feel  himself  secure  so  long 
as  you  and  Lucien  are  in  existence,  nor  would  leave 
you  in  peace  at  Morfontaine,  you  ought,  betimes, 
to  prepare  yourself  to  take  the  lead,  since  on  your 
brother's  death  there  could  be  no  middle  course 
for  you  between  supreme  power  and  nothingness." 

"  You  argue  rightly,"  replied  Joseph  Bonaparte, 
"  but  like  every  one  else  who  judges  me,  you  start 
from  a  false  premiss.     You  take  for  granted   that 

*  The  three   Consuls    had   heen  appointed   for   life  by  the 
Senatus-Consultum  of  17th  Thermidor,  year  X. 


496      ME310IRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


the  small  influence  I  exercise  and  the  obscurity  of 
the  part  I  play  are  due  only  to  my  indolent  nature, 
and  that  I  have  but  to  overcome  that,  to  attain 
to  the  place  which,  according  to  you,  I  ought  to 
occupy.  Undeceive  yourself;  I  perfectly  understand 
all  the  advantages  I  should  reap  by  a  different 
position,  and  if  it  only  depended  on  me  to  make  the 
change,  I  should  certainly  do  it.  But  you  do  not 
understand  my  brother.  The  idea  of  sharing  his 
power  is  so  obnoxious  to  him,  that  my  claims  are  as 
suspicious  in  his  eyes  as  those  of  any  other  person, 
more  so,  perhaps,  since  they  are  the  most  plausible  of 
any,  and  would  be  most  readily  justified  by  public 
opinion.  He  desires  above  all  that  the  need  of  his 
own  existence  should  be  so  deeply  felt,  and  recog- 
nised as  so  great  a  benefit,  that  none  can  look 
beyond  it  without  trepidation.  He  knows  and 
feels  that  he  reigns  rather  through  this  idea  than 
through  either  force  or  gratitude.  If  to-morrow  or 
on  any  other  day  people  were  to  say  to  themselves, 
"  Here  is  a  stable  and  quiet  order  of  things  !  and  a, 
successor  who  will  maintain  it  for  us  is  designated ; 
Pxmaparte  may  die,  we  have  neither  change  nor 
disturbance  to  fear,"-  -my  brother  would  no  longer 
think-  himself  safe.  I  have  discovered  that  such  is 
his  feeling,  and  he  rules  his  conduct  by  it.  Can 
you  believe,  alter  this,  that  he  would  sutler  me  to 
carry  oul    the  plan  you   advise?   and  do  you  think 


A   FRIENDLY  REMONSTRANCE.  497 

that  I  should  be  strong  enough  to  follow  it  against 
his  consent  ?  Certainly  not !  Thus  as  it  is  im- 
possible for  me  to  reach  the  point  I  ought  to  attain, 
I  prefer  playing  no  part  at  all  to  undertaking  an 
inferior  one.  My  policy  is  to  obtain  praise  for  the 
moderation  of  my  desires,  for  my  philosophy,  my 
love  of  repose  and  tranquil  pleasures,  and  to  make 
all  the  world  believe,  as  you  believed  a  moment 
ago,  not  that  I  cannot  be,  but  that  I  do  not  choose  to 
be  more  than  I  am  at  present." 

"  I  should  have  nothing  to  reply  to  what  you 
have  just  told  me,"  I  answered,  "  if  you  really  are 
on  these  terms  with  your  brother.  But  are  you  not 
deceiving  me  in  this,  are  you  not  trying  to  disguise 
the  true  motives  of  your  conduct,  in  order  to  escape 
the  blame  you  would  deserve  if  you  are  acting  only 
from  indolence  and  indifference  ?  How  can  you  re- 
concile what  you  have  just  told  me  concerning  the 
First  Consul  with  his  special  marks  of  regard  when 
you  returned  from  Amiens,*  putting  you  forward  to 
be  applauded  by  the  public  at  the  Opera,  and  offering 
you  a  place  of  honour  at  the  Fete  of  the  Concordat,! 
favours  which  for  the  most  part  you  refused  ? '' 

*  Joseph  Bonaparte  had  signed  the  treaty  of  peace  with 
England  at  Amiens. 

|  This  religious  fete  had  been  celebrated  at  Notre  Dame  on 
27th  Thermidor,  year  X.  (August  15, 1802).  It  had  been  decided 
that  Joseph  Bonaparte  was  to  proceed  to  Notre  Dame  in  a 
carriage  drawn  by  eight  horses ;  but  he  declined  that  honour, 
and  went  with  the  other  Councillors  of  State. 

VOL.    1.  2    K 


498      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


"  You  are  under  the  same  mistake  as  before,"  said 

Joseph   Bonaparte  ;  "  you  persist  in  believing  that 

these  honours  and  distinctions  were  offered  to  me  in 

good  faith.    I  am  certain  they  were  only  a  snare,  and 

I  was  bound  to  avoid  that.    What  was  the  aim  of  the 

First  Consul  ?     To  make  me  a  mark  for  the  envy 

and  jealousy  of  the  other  Consuls,  of  the  Ministers, 

and  of  the  Councillors  of  State,  without  affording  me 

any  means  of  setting  their  enmity  at  defiance,  while 

at  the  same  time  he  paid  his  debt  to  me.     Should 

I,  in  fact,    have   had  any  right  to   complain    after 

receiving    marks  of   favour  which  made  me,  as  it 

were,    his    designated    successor?      Might   not    my 

brother   have    said,   'What    more   does    he   want? 

Could  I  have  done  more  for  him  ?     Is  it  my  fault 

that  he  cannot  keep   himself  where   I  have  placed 

him  ? '     I  should  thus  have  forfeited  all   the  respect 

I  have  won  by  my  simple  and  moderate  behaviour, 

without  having  acquired  more  positive  power  and 

without  escaping,  perhaps,  from  the  ridicule  which 

attaches  to  every  man  who  displays  a  great  ambition 

and  does  not  justify  it  by  his  abilities.      Had  the 

First  Consul  sincerely  desired  my  advancement,  he 

would  have  taken  the  opportunity  of  promoting  it 

on  the  occasion  of  the  appointment  of  a  President  to 

the    Italian   Republic*     True,  he    offered    me    that 

*  Tho  Cisalpine  Republiohad  taken  thai  name  in  the  Scnatus- 
Consultum  that  Bonaparte  demanded,  and  over  which  he  had 
presided   the  year  before  at  Lyons.     M.  de  Melzi,  of  whom  1 


JOSEPH  DESCRIBES  NAPOLEON.  499 

brilliant  post  which  would  have  satisfied  all  my 
desires ;  but  he  wanted  at  the  same  time  to  fetter 
me,  to  make  me  play  the  part  that  is  now  being 
played  by  M.  de  Melzi ;  and  I,  who  know  my 
brother  well,  who  know  how  heavy  is  his  yoke,  I 
who  have  always  preferred  a  life  of  obscurity  to 
that  of  a  political  puppet,  naturally  refused  it. 
I  made  known  to  him,  however,  the  conditions 
on  which  I  would  have  accepted  it,  and  you  shall 
judge  for  yourself  of  my  views  in  proposing 
them.  I  required  that  Piedmont  should  be  united 
to  the  Italian  Republic  ;  that  I  should  be  at  liberty 
to  restore  the  principal  fortresses ;  that  the  French 
troops,  and  especially  General  Murat,  should  with- 
draw from  the  Republican  territory.  Had  I  ob- 
tained these  concessions  I  should  have  been  really 
master.  I  should  have  been  dependent  on  France 
so  far  as  the  Cabinet  and  political  relations  were 
concerned,  but  not  materially.  My  brother,  whose 
ambition  is  boundless,  would  by  no  means  consent  to 
my  conditions,  and  caused  himself  to  be  appointed 
President. 

"You  do  not  know  him,"  added  Joseph  Bona- 
parte; "he  is  a  wonderful  man,  and  each  day  I 
am  more  and  more  amazed  at  the  depth,  the  extent 


Lave  already  spoken,  tLen  received  tLe  title  of  Vice-President 
of  tLe  Italian  Eepublic. 

2  k  2 


500      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

and  the  boldness  of  his  projects.     Believe  me,  he 
has  not  yet  reached  the  goal  of  his  ambition." 

"  I  do  not  doubt  it,"  I  replied ;  "  after  hearing 
what  you  have  just  told  me,  and  without  at- 
tempting to  penetrate  into  all  his  designs,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  see  what  he  aspires  to,  and  that  the 
founding  a  dynasty,  the  empire  of  Europe,  shared  at 
most  with  Russia  and  established  on  the  ruins  of 
Austria  and  England,  are  the  aims  of  all  his  enter- 
prises. But  for  the  realisation  of  his  plans  he  must 
have  a  son,  and  Madame  Bonaparte  cannot  give  him 
a  child." 

"If  Fate  wills  these  things  to  be,"  returned 
Joseph  Bonaparte,  "  they  will  be.  Madame  Bona- 
parte may  die ;  by  a  second  marriage  my  brother 
may  have  children,  and  that  very  marriage 
may  be  one  means  for  carrying  out  the  rest  of 
the  plan." 

"  But  do  you  believe,"  I  interrupted,  "  that  he  will 
wait  to  receive  from  the  hands  of  Fate  and  from  the 
chance  of  an  improbable  death  that  which  it  would 
be  so  easy  for  him  to  obtain  at  once  ?  I  do  not  say 
that  your  brother  ought  to  annul  his  marriage,  as 
has  been  suggested,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not 
blessed  by  the  Church,  though  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  First  Consul  intended  to  hold  that  argument 
in  reserve  when  he  refused  to  yield  this  point  to 
tli*'    piayer  of  his  wife,   who  so  ardently  desired    a 


BONAPARTE'S  MARRIAGE.  501 

religious  sanction  of  their  union.*  But  can  he  not 
bring  the  nation  itself  to  demand  a  second  marriage 
in  order  to  ensure  an  heir  ?  If  he  were  to  hint  at 
this,  you  would  see  how  soon  his  hint  would  be 
acted  on.  His  experience  of  our  pliability  and 
docility  must  make  him  feel  assured  of  success. 

"  Now  is  it  to  your  interest  that  such  an  event 
should  take  place  ?  I  think  so ;  and,  contrary  to  the 
opinion  of  the  majority  of  your  friends,  I  believe 
it  would  be  advantageous  to  you.  Remember 
that  from  the  moment  the  First  Consul  becomes 
the  father  of  a  son  you  are  that  son's  natural 
guardian,  and  that  to  you  alone  can  he  confide 
the  care  of  the  child ;  that  thus  relieved  from  any 
fear  of  personal  ambition  on  your  part,  he  would 
bequeath  to  you  all  the  necessary  powers  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  rights  of  the  heir  of  his  name 
and  greatness.  You  would  thus  obtain  undisputed 
influence  during  the  lifetime  of  the  First  Consul, 
and  after  his  death  you  would  become  Regent,  if 
his  successor  were  still  under  age.  It  is,  on  the 
contrary,  for  the  interest  of  the  other  Consuls  that 
your  brother  should  not  contract  a  second  marriage. 
Without   perhaps   forming   any  very  clear   idea   of 

*  This  discussion  had  taken  place  shortly  before  my  return 
from  Corsica.  Madame  Bonaparte's  tears  and  entreaties  were 
in  vain.  She  could  riot  obtain  her  husband's  consent  to  a 
religious  celebration  of  their  marriage. 


502      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

their  position  after  his  death,  they  must  perceive 
that  in  such  an  event,  if  he  left  no  child,  there 
would  be  a  better  chance  for  them,  than  if  an  heir 
to  the  name  of  Bonaparte,  with  you  to  defend  and 
protect  him,  were  to  appeal  to  the  gratitude  of  the 
nation,  and  to  be  backed  up  by  those  natural  ideas 
of  hereditary  right  which  it  has  retained,  and  to 
which  it  would  willingly  again  assent." 

The  progress  of  the  monarchical  spirit  may  be 
estimated  by  the  foregoing  conversation ;  there  was 
no  longer  any  shrinking  from  the  complete  con- 
sequences of  an  hereditary  system.  The  words 
"  Divorce,"  and  "  Regency,"  with  all  their  meaning 
and  all  that  they  may  imply,  were  listened  to  without 
alarm,  the  only  difficulty  was  the  mode  of  execution. 
From  that  time  forth  a  Princess  was  sought  for 
among  the  most  illustrious  reigning  houses  in 
Europe,  to  whom  his  policy  or  his  vanity  might 
direct  the  fancy  of  the  new  master  of  France, 
and  to  Russia,  especially,  all  eyes  were  turned.  It 
was  said  that  Lucien  Bonaparte  had  negotiated  an 
alliance  with  the  Spanish  branch  of  the  Bourbons 
during  his  stay  at  Madrid;  but  there  were  strong 
objections  to  bringing  the  race  of  the  Bourbons 
back  to  France  ;  the  attachment  of  a  groat  number 
of  Frenchmen  to  that  house,  and  tin1  pretensions 
which  such  a  return  would  create,  might  eventually 
be   a    cause    of  disquiel    to   the    Bonaparte    family. 


^SUCCESSOR    TO  JOSEPHINE.  503 

Moreover,  Spain  could  confer  neither  power,  support, 
nor  influence  in  Europe. 

The  policy  of  France  at  that  time  forbade  her  to 
hold  any  intercourse  with  Austria,  and  besides,  there 
was  the  fear  of  refusal  from  the  haughty  Csesar  at 
Vienna.  With  the  help  of  Russia  only,  on  the  other 
hand,  Bonaparte  might  accomplish  the  vast  projects 
he  had  conceived  ?  Pride  of  birth  had  less  root 
there  than  elsewhere ;  the  Czars  had  sometimes  dis- 
regarded that  consideration  in  selecting  a  bride.  The 
reigning  house  owed  all  its  splendour  to  one  extra- 
ordinary man,  who  had  made  it  illustrious  less  than 
a  hundred  years  before.  There  was  a  certain  like- 
ness in  fortune  and  fate  between  the  founder  of 
St.  Petersburg  and  the  warrior  politician  who  now 
reigned  over  France.  Everything  therefore  seemed 
to  point  to  an  alliance  with  Russia.  The  First 
Consul,  moreover,  appeared  to  have  far-reaching 
views  in  the  political  rank  which  he  had  bestowed 
on  his  wife  ;  for  when  I  pointed  this  out  to  Joseph 
Bonaparte,  he  answered  that  far  from  militating 
against  the  Consul's  designs,  it  really  promoted 
them,  for  that  he  intended  thereby  to  regulate 
beforehand  the  position  of  the  princess  who 
should  succeed  to  Madame  Bonaparte.  And,  in 
truth,  the  honours  paid  to  the  latter  at  this  period 
were  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the 
very  proudest  house,  for  it  could   not  be   doubted 


504      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

that  similar  honours  would  be  freely  paid   to   the 
wife  whom  it  should  bestow  upon  the  First  Consul. 

I  was  thus  initiated  by  Joseph  Bonaparte  into 
the  secret  of  a  future,  which  was  working  itself  out, 
though  with  less  rapidity  than  I  at  first  anticipated ; 
but  I  was  far  from  being  dazzled  by  its  seeming  bril- 
liancy. All  these  projects  seemed  to  me  more  bright 
than  solid.  I  could  not  refrain  from  expressing  my 
fears  on  the  subject  to  Joseph  Bonaparte,  and  from 
adding  certain  gloomy  reflections  which  were  sug- 
gested by  his  confidential  communications. 

"  Bonaparte  means  to  reign,"  I  said  to  his  brother, 
"and  his  ambition  will  not  be  satisfied  by  reigning 
over  France  only.  But  will  he  be  a  mere  meteor, 
flashing  for  an  instant,  to  die  out  and  vanish  ?  or 
will  he  be  the  founder  of  a  new  Empire  to  which  his 
honoured  name,  handed  down  from  age  to  age,  will 
serve  for  a  title,  even  as  that  of  Caesar  is  still  the 
title  of  Mediaeval  Europe  ?  This  is  what  you  should 
consider. 

"In  all  great  changes  affecting  governments  two 
evidently  distinct  things  have  to  be  considered, 
inslit  utions  and  individuals. 

"The  true  founders  of  empires  and  dynasties 
change  institutions,  and  the  change  is  lasting,  not, 
always  because  the  system  of  government  introduced 
by  them  is  better  than  that  they  have  overthrown, 
bul   because  public  opinion,  which   they   have  won 


A    USURPER'S  POLICY.  505 

over  to  their  side,  and  which  supports  the  new 
order  of  things,  may  still  exist  when  the  Eeformer 
is  no  more.  Mere  usurpers,  on  the  contrary,  simply 
turn  out  the  individuals  at  the  head  of  the  govern- 
ment and  take  their  place.  But  they  seldom  have 
successors;  their  power  dies  with  them  and  the 
former  masters  reappear. 

"  The  new  head  of  a  State  cannot  therefore 
secure  a  lasting  empire  either  to  himself  or  his 
descendants,  unless,  while  placing  himself  in  the 
first  rank,  he  also  change  the  principles  and 
the  form  of  the  preceding  government;  he  must 
even  carefully  remove  everything  that  may  recall 
them. 

"  For  a  like  reason  it  is  vain  to  change  the 
form  of  government  unless  you  change  its  head 
at  the  same  time,  and  also  those  who  are  supposed 
to  succeed  him. 

"  Apply  these  principles  to  the  actual  state  of 
things,  and  you  can  judge  of  your  brother's  line 
of  conduct  and  perhaps  foresee  its  results. 

"  In  aspiring,  as  everything  tends  to  prove  that 
he  does  aspire,  not  to  power  only  but  to  the 
foundation  of  a  dynasty,  is  Bonaparte  changing,  as 
he  ought  to  change,  the  ancient  forms  of  the  French 
Government  according  to  the  principles  just  laid 
down  ?  No.  He  is,  on  the  contrary,  endeavouring 
to    revive    the    old   monarchical   ideas ;    every   day 


506      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

he  is  renewing  institutions  and  customs  which  Time 
alone  had  sanctioned,  but  which  even  under  our 
more  recent  kings  had  lost  much  of  the  prestige 
they  had  in  former  times,  and  were  dying  out.  We 
are  about  to  witness,  or  rather  we  do  already  see, 
the  revival  of  orders,  of  family  distinctions,  soon 
we  shall  have  distinction  of  birth.  The  destruction 
of  the  National  Representation  and  the  submissive- 
ness  of  the  Senate  make  the  present  head  of  the 
Government  as  completely  master  of  the  public 
liberty  and  the  public  fate  as  ever  were  our  kings 
of  France.  The  ancient  system,  therefore,  on  which 
the  French  Monarchy  was  built  up  is  no  longer 
essentially  abolished  ;  its  advantages  and  its  defects 
still  subsist.  In  short,  all  that  remains  to  be  seen  is 
whether  the  new  chief  is  better  or  more  agreeable 
to  the  nation  than  the  one  whom  we  should  have 
had  in  the  natural  course  of  events. 

"  The  question,  if  regarded  merely  from  that  point 
of  view  and  submitted,  were  it  possible,  to  the  free 
vote  of  the  nation,  might  not  be  unanimously 
answered  in  favour  of  Bonaparte.  Admitting,  how- 
ever, that  a  great  majority  would  vote  for  him; 
that,  on  comparing  liim  with  the  recent  kings  of 
France  and  with  the  men  whose  birth  would 
entitle  them  at  present  to  the  throne,  his  fame  and 
liis  talents,  gratitude  for  the  Bervices  ho  lias 
rendered,    and    the    mightv    power   of    his  genius 


A    USURPER'S   CHANCES.  507 

would  prevail  over  affection  for  the  family  of  our 
ancient  rulers ;  in  short,  that  the  nation  would 
honestly  desire  to  leave  the  sceptre  in  his  hands 
rather  than  to  entrust  it  to  others  less  worthy  to 
bear  it ;  still  Bonaparte  would  have  accomplished 
nothing. 

"  In  the  first  place,  the  sentiment  of  admiration 
which  has  placed  him  where  he  is  will  of  necessity 
decline,  for  it  is  the  fate  of  rulers  to  meet  with 
discontent  and  ingratitude  ;  the  comparisons  drawn 
between  him  and  those  whose  place  he  occupies 
will  be  less  and  less  favourable  to  him  every  day. 
In  order  therefore  to  counterbalance  the  disen- 
chantment of  that  nearer  view  which  diminishes 
enthusiasm,  and  to  turn  aside  the  shafts  of  ridicule 
to  which  his  pi^ivate  life  must  expose  him,  he  must 
keep  the  nation  constantly  occupied  with  great 
enterprises,  with  wars  that  will  add  to  his  glory 
and  maintain  his  superiority  over  every  rival.  But 
in  this  case  he  must  repeatedly  imperil  his  own 
existence.  Would  not  reverses,  nay  one  single 
reverse,  strip  him  of  all  he  had  acquired  ?  and 
would  the  army,  when  fighting  for  one  man's 
ambition  only,  the  army,  when  no  longer  kindled 
by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  wars  of  the  Republic, 
always  be  able,  even  with  all  the  aid  of  the 
military  genius  of  its  leader,  to  guarantee  him 
from  reverses  or  to  repair  them  ? 


508      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

"  Secondly,  admitting  that  he  overcomes  all  these 
obstacles,  the  end  of  his  life  must,  none  the  less, 
be  the  end  of  his  greatness ;  he,  after  his  death, 
will,  none  the  less,  be  ranked  with  the  usurpers. 
How  can  we  suppose  that  there  would  then  be 
any  hesitation  between  his  family  and  that  of  the 
Bourbons  ?  How  can  we  fail  to  see  that  the 
Bourbons  would  be  speedily  recalled,  if  the  place 
left  vacant  by  your  brother  were  merely  that 
of  a  king,  if  he  had  not  made  such  important 
changes  in  the  ancient  forms  of  the  Government 
that  the  nation  would  insist  on  retaining  advan- 
tages whose  value  it  would  have  experienced,  by 
defending  the  family  from  whom  it  had  received 
them  ? 

"  Bonaparte  should  therefore  establish  a  marked 
difference  between  the  past  and  the  future,  if  he 
would  have  his  achievements  to  live.  He  should 
adopt  a  form  of  government  no  less  powerful 
indeed  than  the  Monarchy,  but  so  totally  different 
in  its  exterior,  so  true  to  the  promises  of  the 
lie  volution,  that  each  individual  should  be  directly 
interested  in  supporting  the  author  of  that  order 
of  tilings,  and  be  convinced  that  the  system  would 
nut  last  unless  the  highest  post  were  perpetuated 
in  the  family  of  him  who  created  it.  This  indeed 
would  be  to  found  a  new  Empire. 

"  Bui  to  w;in!  to  be  king  of  France,  as  LouisXIV. 


A   POLITICAL  PROPHECY.  509 

and  his  descendants  were  kings  of  France,  to  govern 
despotically  like  them,  to  surround  himself  with  the 
same  guards,  the  same  ceremonial,  to  give  his 
wife  the  same  rank  as  that  of  the  daughters 
of  Austria  and  of  France,  would  only  be  to  put 
himself  in  the  place  of  the  man  who  formerly  sat 
on  the  hereditary  throne ;  that  is  to  say,  to  usurp. 
Bonaparte  will  do  much,  if  he  succeeds  in  keeping 
that  throne  during  his  life.  To  raise  his  descend- 
ants to  it  is  impossible  ;  whatever  may  be  accom- 
plished or  hoped  for,  so  soon  as  the  question  arises 
of  a  choice  between  the  Bourbon  and  the  Bonaparte 
family,  there  will  never  be  either  hesitation  or 
doubt  in  the  popular  mind."* 

While  these  confidential  conversations  were  taking 
place  between  Joseph  Bonaparte  and  myself,  the 
First  Consul  was  advancing  with  firm  steps  along 
the  path  he  had  marked  out,  and  everything,  it  must 
be  admitted,  seemed  to  favour  his  progress.  The 
peace  with  England  had  been  followed  by  Lord 
Whitworth's  arrival  as  ambassador,  and  no  circum- 
stance that  had  as  yet  occurred  was  so  flattering 
to  the  vanity  of  Bonaparte.  I  was  present  at  the 
reception  of  the  ambassador  on  the  14th  Frimaire 
(December  5).  The  Tuileries  were  crowded;  the 
First    Consul    was    magnificently    attired  ;    a    gold 

*  The  above  remarks  were  uttered  and  consigned  to  writing 
on  the  25th  Frimaire,  year  XI.  (December  16,  1802). 


510     MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

sword  hung  at  his  side,  adorned  with  the  finest  of 
the  Crown  diamonds  ;  conspicuous  among  these  was 
the  stone  called  the  Regent*  In  the  evening  there 
was  a  State  reception ;  Ambassadors,  Generals, 
Senators,  and  Councillors  of  State  were  there  with 
their  wives.  The  First  Consul's  countenance  revealed 
his  satisfaction  ;  English  pride  had  given  way  before 
him.  This  was  a  triumph,  but  a  short-lived  one. 
The  Ministers,  following  the  example  of  their  head 
also  gave  receptions,  at  which  they  displayed  great 
magnificence.  I  was  present  at  the  reception  of 
the  Minister  of  War  ;  it  was  somewhat  remark- 
able. Among  the  guests  was  General  Moreau. 
He  appeared  in  a  simple  costume  of  plain  cloth, 
contrasting  strangely  with  the  uniforms,  and  the 
gold  and  silk-embroidered  suits  of  the  other 
guests.  This  gave  rise  to  remark  and  conjecture. 
Was  it  intended  as  a  reflection  on  the  Consular 
Government?  Was  the  General's  motive  modesty 
or  affectation  ?  Each  one  answered  these  questions 
in  his  own  way.  But  whatever  Moreau's  motives 
may  have  been,  the  result  was  successful.  Great 
:itlcntion  was  paid  to  the  General,  his  inrportance 
was   augmented,    and    thenceforth    Bonaparte   must 

*  This  diamond,  ono  of  tho  most  beautiful  and  perfect  stones 
in  cxistcnco,  had  boon  purchased  during  the  Kogency  of  tho 
Duke  of  Orleans,  henco  its  name.  It  weighs  546  grains,  and 
0081  2  500,000  francs  |  6100,000). 


MOBEAU.  511 


have  looked  on  him  less  as  a  rival  than  as  a 
declared  enemy. 

For  the  time  being1,  however,  that  enmity  cast 
no  shadow  on  the  fortunes  of  the  First  Consul.  The 
whole  of  France  submitted  to  his  rule.  Piedmont 
was  united  to  France  ;  the  Milanese  territory,  Parma, 
Placenza,  and  Bologna,  under  the  name  of  the 
Italian  Republic,  had  acknowledged  him  as  their 
president  and  ruler;  Tuscany,  transformed  into  the 
kingdom  of  Etruria,  had  received  from  him  an  Infant 
of  Spain  as  her  king,  who  was  the  mere  vassal 
of  France  ;  the  negotiations  entered  upon  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Treaty  of  Luneville,  and  carried  on 
by  Joseph  Bonaparte  and  by  Count  Cobentzel,  had 
been  prosperously  concluded  on  the  9th  Nivose, 
year  XI.  (December  30,  1802),  by  two  conventions, 
by  which  the  indemnification  of  the  dethroned 
German  Princes  was  agreed  to,  and  the  annexa- 
tion of  Piedmont  to  France  was  recognised  ;  so  that 
a  lasting  peace  seemed  likely  to  ensue. 

On  the  one  hand,  foreign  affairs  assumed  a  more 
favourable  aspect  daily,  and  on  the  other,  Bonaparte's 
success  in  the  interior  of  France  was  equally  im- 
portant to  his  ulterior  designs. 

News  of  the  death  of  General  Leclerc,  who  com- 
manded the  fatal  expedition  to  St.  Domingo,  reached 
Paris  on  the  17th  Nivose,  year  XL  (Jan.  7,  1803). 
The  General   had  married  Pauline  Bonaparte,  and 


512      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

was  consequently  brother-in-law  to  the  First  Consul. 
His  death  gave  a  fine  opportunity  for  reviving 
the  ancient  etiquette  of  Court-mourning,  and  was 
used  accordingly.  The  Council  of  State,  specially 
convoked  on  the  20th  Nivose,  paid  a  visit  of  cere- 
mony to  the  First  Consul.  The  Senate  and  the 
Magistracy  did  the  same.  All  the  great  bodies  of 
the  State  went  into  mourning,  and  the  death  was 
officially  notified  to  the  Foreign  ambassadors  resi- 
dent in  Paris,  and  to  the  Ministers  of  the  Republic 
at  various  foreign  Courts.  Madame  Bonaparte  also 
received  visits  from  the  wives  of  the  principal  public 
officials ;  and  those  ladies  appeared  in  mourning. 
Curiously  enough,  this  return  to  former  Court 
customs  made  a  profound  sensation,  and  was  looked 
upon  as  a  bolder  venture  than  others  of  greater 
importance  made  by  the  First  Consul,  than  for 
instance,  the  change  in  the  coinage  which  took  place 
one  month  later.  By  a  decree  passed  in  the  Council 
of  State  on  the  19th  Pluviose  (February  8),  the  head 
of  Bonaparte,  with  an  inscription  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte,  premier  Consul,  was  substituted  for  the  alle- 
gorical face  which  had  marked  the  coinage  since 
1702.  The  reverse  was  to  have  been  decorated  with 
a  wreath  of  oak-leaves,  with  the  value  of  the  coin 
marked  in  the  centre,  and  the  inscription,  le  peuple 
franqais,  Bui  these  words  were  replaced  by  Repub- 
lique  franqaue.    This  great  alteration,  one  so  contrary 


NEW  COINAGE.  513 


to  Republican  feeling,  was  effected,  so  to  speak, 
without  attracting  attention.  Yet  the  sitting  of  the 
Council  of  State  in  which  so  strongly  monarchical 
a  resolution  was  passed  was  a  remarkable  one,  not 
from  the  raising  of  any  voice  in  opposition  to  this 
new  usurpation,  but  from  a  curious  discussion  on 
the  motto  that  was  to  be  graven  on  the  rim  of  the 
coin.  Bonaparte  inquired  whether  the  former  coins 
did  not  bear  on  their  rim  these  words,  Domine, 
salvum  fac  regem,  and  on  receiving  an  affirmative 
reply,  he  raised  the  question  whether  it  would  not  be 
well  to  retain  that  ancient  formula,  and  to  engrave 
Vomine,  salvum  fac  rempublicam.  This  proposition 
was  about  to  be  carried,  when  Lebrun,  the  Third 
Consul,  remarked  that  the  word  Domine  might  give 
rise  to  a  false  interpretation,  and  that  it  might  be 
applied  to  the  First  Consul  by  translating  it  into 
Seigneur,  sauve  la  republique ;  "  Lord,  save  the  Re- 
public !  "  "  No,"  replied  Bonaparte  curtly ;  "  there 
is  no  fear  of  its  being  so  understood,  for  that  is 
a  thing  already  done."  However,  the  old  motto 
was  rejected,  and  Dieu  sauve  la  France  was  substi- 
tuted for  it. 

At  the  same  time  that  these  innovations,  the  aim 
of  which  was  obvious  to  every  one,  were  succeeding 
each  other  without  opposition,  or  at  the  very  most 
only  afforded  subjects  for  a  few  epigrams,  it  became 
necessary  to  reward  the  magistracy,  by  whose  help 

VOL.   i.  2    L 


514      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MEL  I  TO. 


they  had    been    effected.       The    submission    of  the 
Senate,    which   had   already   proved   itself  so  obse- 
quious, must   be  secured,  and  its  attachment   irre- 
vocably purchased  by  pecuniary  gifts.      This  was 
accomplished  by   Bonaparte  with    extreme  skill    in 
the    Senatus-Consultum  of  the   14th   Nivose.     The 
principal  points  of  that  Act  were  discussed  in  an 
extraordinary  sitting  of  the  Senate  which  took  place 
on    the   9th   of  the    same    month.       On    pretext  of 
definitively  constituting  it,  and  making  its  position 
more  stable  and  more  imposing,  an  income  of  four 
millions  from  the  produce  of  the  sale  of  the  woods  of 
the  State,  and  one  million  from  the  property  of  the 
emigres,  was  allotted  to  the  endowment  of  that  body. 
By   this    endowment,    the    minimum    salary   of    a 
Senator  became  40,000  francs  (£1600),  and  it  also 
provided  for  the  extraordinary  expense  of  a  Council 
of  Administration,  consisting  of  six  members  of  the 
Senate ;  two  under  the  name   of  '  Lenders ;'  *   two 
great  officers ;  a  Chancellor  and  a  Treasurer.     These 
six    personages    were    to   have    residences   assigned 
them  in  the  Luxembourg  and  to  be  charged  with  the 
representation  of  the  Senate.     Independently  of  this 
annual  endowment,  thirty  scnatorships  were  insti- 
tuted   in  various  departments,  each  with  an  annual 
inr  me   <>C  25,000   francs  (£1000),  and  a  manor,  in 
which  llie  Senators,  provided  with  these  Prebends  or 

*  PrStews. 


ENDOWMENT  OF   THE  SENATE.  515 


Commanderies,  should  be  bound  to  reside  during  at 
least  three  months  of  the  year.  During  their  stay  in 
the  provinces,  the  Senators  holding  these  senatorial 
prerogatives  were  to  act  as  intermediaries  between 
the  government  and  the  governed,  and  to  report 
to  the  Senate  the  state  of  public  opinion  in  their 
departments.  Now,  as  these  Senatorial  seats  were 
at  the  disposal  of  the  First  Consul,  and  as  their 
number  was  limited  to  one- third  of  the  whole  Senate, 
it  is  evident  that  the  first  filling  up  of  these  ap- 
pointments— which  was  only  to  be  effected  by 
degrees — and  the  distribution  of  the  inheritance 
when  left  vacant  by  the  death  of  the  holders,  must 
afford  the  Government  an  immense  influence  over 
the  Senate. 

•  All  these  measures  were  passed  unanimously,  as  I 
learned  from  Joseph  Bonaparte,  who,  in  his  capacity 
of  Senator,  was  present  at  the  sitting.  "  I  am  quite 
undeceived,"  he  said  to  me,  on  his  return,  "  as  to 
Republicanism  in  France  ;  it  no  longer  exists.  Not 
a  single  member  of  the  Senate  raised  his  voice 
against  the  proposed  measures,  nor  even  took  the 
trouble  of  affecting  a  disinterestedness  he  did  not 
feel.  The  most  Republican  of  them  all  were  using 
their  pencils  to  calculate  the  share  of  each  in  the 
common  dividend." 

After  having  thus  secured  and  fashioned  with  his 
own  hands  an  instrument  as  supple  as  it  was  strong  ; 

2  l   2 


516      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

after  having  surrounded  himself  with  all  the  ex- 
ternal attributes  of  sovereignty,  unopposed,  and,  still 
more,  after  having  grasped  the  reality  of  absolute 
power  with  a  firm  hand,  there  remained  but  one 
more  step  for  Bonaparte  to  take,  in  order  to  call  his 
great  position  by  its  true  name,  when  the  clouds, 
arising  from  the  execution  of  the  Treaty  of  Amiens, 
which  were  beginning  to  darken  the  political 
horizon  between  England  and  France,  arrested  his 
progress  for  a  time.  On  several  occasions  already 
the  First  Consul  had  shown  unequivocal  signs  of 
aversion  to  England.  At  the  sitting  of  the 
Council  of  State  when  the  alteration  of  the  effigy 
on  the  coinage  was  adopted,  an  incidental  discussion 
had  afforded  him  an  opportunity  of  declaring  his 
opinion  of  the  English,  and  he  had  expressed  himself 
with  remarkable  bitterness.  To  the  great  surprise 
of  the  Council  he  had  found  fault  with  everything 
that  existed  in  England.  Her  national  spirit,  her 
policy,  her  form  of  Government,  nothing  escaped  his 
censure,  which  he  even  extended  to  Shakespeare  and 
Milton,  whom  I  had  little  expected  to  hear  criticised 
in  the  Council  of  State  of  France. 

Bonaparte's  personal  dislike  to  England  gathered 
strength  every  day  from  the  perusal  of  the  English 
newspapers,  and  especially  of  those  which  were 
edited  by  the  imigris^  and  printed  in  French,  in 
London,  and  which  contained  tli<'  coarsest  abuse  of 


BONAPARTE' S  HATRED    OF  ENGLAND.         517 


the  First  Consul  and  his  family ;  from  the  opposition 
offered  to  M.  de  Talleyrand  in  the  negotiations 
opened  with  Lord  Whit  worth  respecting  the  cession 
of  Malta — one  of  the  conditions  of  the  Treaty  of 
Amiens — and  most  of  all  from  the  failure  of  an 
attempt  made  by  himself  to  inveigle  England  into 
sharing  his  ambitious  views,  by  proposing  to  her,  in 
no  dubious  terms,  to  join  with  France  and  divide 
the  world  between  them.  This  attempt,  which 
proves  how  little  Bonaparte  understood  the  princi- 
ples of  the  English  Government,  and  how  great  was 
his  delusion  on  the  subject  (a  delusion  which  clung 
to  him  until  the  fatal  moment  when  he  trusted 
himself  into  the  hands  of  that  Government),  is  re- 
corded in  a  despatch  from  Lord  Whit  worth  to  Lord 
Hawkesbury,  printed  by  order  of  Parliament  as  a 
justification  of  the  declaration  of  war,  and  in  which 
the  ambassador  gives  a  detailed  account  of  a  conver- 
sation between  the  First  Consul  and  himself  on  the 
29th  Pluviose  (February  18).* 

*  See  the  'Morning  Chronicle'  of  May  19,  1803.  The  King 
of  England's  declaration  of  war  was  published,  with  annotations, 
in  the  '  Moniteur  '  of  23rd  Prairial ;  but  the  text  of  the  accom- 
panying documents,  which  were  printed  in  England,  is  not  to  be 
found  in  the  French  paper.  That  confines  itself  to  the  following 
remark :  "  We  have  now  to  examine  the  official  documents 
published  by  the  English  Ministers  in  defence  of  their  Sove- 
reign's manifesto."  But  as  the  'Moniteur'  never  carried  out 
that  pledge,   and  as  the  conversation  between   Bonaparte  and 


518      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

These  suggestions  were  rejected,  as  it  was  natural 
that  they  should  be.  But  the  vexation  of  having 
made  them  in  vain  must,  no  doubt,  have  been  very 
keen  to  the  First  Consul. 

So  many  subjects  of  misunderstanding,  to  which 
must  be  added  the  displeasure  caused  in  England 
by  Colonel  Sebastiani's  report,  published  in  the 
'  Moniteur,'  relating  to  his  mission  in  Egypt,  and 
which  openly  revealed  the  First  Consul's  designs  of 
transforming  that  country  into  a  French  Colony, 
indicated  an  impending  rupture  ;  and  this,  in  fact, 
took  place  before  long. 

On  the  21st  Ventose  (March  12)  the  speech  of  the 
King  of  England  to  Parliament,  delivered  on  the  8th, 
reached  Paris.  It  produced  a  great  sensation,  and 
some  surprise,  because  several  of  the  causes  which 
had  led  to  His  Majesty's  utterances  were  still  un- 
known to  the  public.  And  as  .the  expressions  used  in 
the  King's  speech  were  so  hostile  that  it  might  be 
taken  as  a  declaration  of  war,  all  the  consequences  of 
an  unexpected  rupture,  in  which  so  many  interests 
were  involved,  became  suddenly  apparent,  and  caused 
universal    uneasiness    and    trouble.      There    was   a 


Lord  Whitwortk  is  of  tho  highest  importance  to  an  intelligent 
appreciation  of  events,  and  throws  a  strong  light  on  tho  character 
ami  virus  of  the  First  Consul,  I  think  it  well  to  give  the 
whole  despatch  verbatim.  The  reader  will  find  it  at  tho  end  of 
tli.   presenl  chapter. 


THE  KING'S  SPEECH.  519 

serious  fall  in  the  public  funds,  and  all  commercial 
speculation  was  suspended. 

The  above  is  a  general  sketch  of  this  great  event, 
of  its  causes  and  its  immediate  effects.  I  shall  now 
trace,  in  detail,  the  progress  of  the  crisis  during  the 
five  weeks  that  elapsed  between  the  King's  speech 
to  Parliament,  and  Lord  Whitworth's  departure  from 
Paris,  which  completed  the  rupture.  I  shall  relate 
the  secret  negotiations  which  preceded  it ;  and  state 
the  special  opportunities  that  were  afforded  me  of 
observing  the  sentiments  and  the  conduct  of  the 
First  Consul  at  this  conjuncture. 

On  the  day  following  that  on  which  the  King  of 
England's  speech  became  known,  the  First  Consul 
met  Lord  Whitworth,  who  was  paying  a  visit  to 
Madame  Bonaparte,  and  a  very  animated  conver- 
sation ensued.  After  expressing  his  utter  astonish- 
ment at  the  proceedings  of  the  English  Government, 
Bonaparte  continued  in  the  following  terms  :  "  How 
is  it  that  the  King  chose  the  very  moment  when 
the  French  Government  was  evincing  the  most 
friendly  dispositions  ?  Was  it  because  he  wants  to 
seize  the  opportunity  of  my  vessels  (sic)  being 
scattered  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  does 
he  hope,  this  being  the  case,  to  achieve  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  French  Navy  ?  But  I  too  can  make  war 
in  the  sole  interests  of  France,  and  such  a  war  would 
last  at  least  fifteen  years." 


520      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

"  That  is  a  long  time,"  was  Lord  Whitworth's 
only  reply. 

"  However,"  continued  Bonaparte,  "  I  have  no- 
thing but  praise  to  bestow  on  your  own  personal 
attitude,  and  your  presence  here  has  given  me  great 
j:>leasure.  I  hear  the  Duchess  of  Dorset*  is  un- 
well, but  I  hope  she  will  have  time  to  recover 
her  health  before  she  leaves  Paris." 

Two  days  after  this  conversation,  the  Council  of 
State  was  summoned  to  discuss  a  project  of  law 
by  which  the  exclusive  privilege  of  issuing  notes 
was  to  be  granted  to  the  Bank  of  France.  But  the 
First  Consul,  instead  of  confining  himself  to  this, 
addressed  us,  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  sit- 
ting, on  the  present  state  of  our  relations  with 
England. 

"  I  jDrotest,"  said  he,  "  that  there  does  not  exist  a 
single  cause  of  dissension  between  the  two  nations 
which  might  even  serve  as  a  pretext  for  the  King  of 
England's  last  proceeding.  I  have  faithfully  carried 
out  all  the  conditions  of  the  Treaty  of  Amiens  ;  but 
I  require  the  English  on  their  side  to  observe  them 
also,  and  unless  we  want  to  pass  for  the  most 
contemptible  nation  in  Europe,  we  must  allow  no 
modification  in  the  execution.  But  I  can  scarcely 
believe  that  the  English   really  desire  war.     They 

Lord  Whit.wortli  had  married  the  widow  of  the  third  Duke 
of  Doitsot. 


ENGLISH  OVERTURES.  521 


do  not  usually  commence  it  in  that  way ;  they  begin 
at  once,  and  talk  afterwards." 

It  will  be  seen  by  this  that  the  First  Consul  did 
not  as  yet  approach  the  true  cause  of  the  misun- 
derstanding between  the  two  Governments.  The 
English  wanted  to  retain  Malta  as  a  compensation 
for  all  the  acquisitions  made  by  France  since  the 
Peace  of  Amiens,  especially  in  Italy.  The  British 
Government,  in  order  to  facilitate  matters,  had  even 
secretly  proposed  to  the  First  Consul  that  it  should 
recognise  sundry  personal  advantages  to  himself  and 
his  family,  such  as  the  title  of  Consular  Majesty,  and 
hereditary  succession  to  that  title,  if  he  would  not 
insist  on  the  evacuation  of  Malta.  These  overtures 
had  been  made  in  Paris  by  a  M.  Hubert,  to 
whom  they  had  been  entrusted  by  the  English 
ambassador,  and  were  addressed  in  particular  to 
Joseph  Bonaparte  through  the  medium  of  Regnault 
de  St.  Jean-d'Angely,  who  was  in  communication 
with  the  secret  agent.  But  even  supposing  these 
overtures  to  have  been  sincere,  Bonaparte  was  by  no 
means  inclined  to  accept  them.  He  well  knew  that 
he  needed  no  help  from  England  in  order  to  traverse 
the  short  space  that  lay  between  himself  and  the 
throne.  He  also  knew  that  a  successful  war  was  a 
surer  means  of  reaching  that  throne  than  the  pro- 
tection of  a  foreign  Power,  to  be  obtained  by  a 
sacrifice  of  national  dignity,  and,  moreover,  that  a 


522      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

negotiation  which  would  have  had  personal  advan- 
tages only  for  its  result  would  have  a  ridiculous 
side.  He  insisted  all  the  more  strongly  on  the 
literal  execution  of  the  treaty,  because  of  his  con- 
viction that  the  English  Ministry,  knowing  the  full 
importance  of  the  possession  of  the  island  of  Malta, 
would  never  consent  to  give  it  up,  and  that  from 
this  contest  a  rupture  must  necessarily  ensue. 
Indeed,  after  his  unsuccessful  attempt  to  associate 
England  with  him  in  his  ambition,  war  was  his  only 
honourable  resource,  and  it  might  in  the  long  run  be 
more  advantageous  than  hurtful  to  his  projects. 

But  public  opinion  promptly  declared  itself  against 
war.  The  renewal  of  hostilities  was,  in  general, 
looked  upon  with  alarm,  and  the  few  remaining 
lovers  of  liberty  saw  nothing  but  ruin  and  disaster 
in  the  event  of  reverses,  and  in  the  case  of  success 
only  an  additional  means  by  which  the  First  Consul 
would  reach  the  goal  of  his  ambition.  They  did 
not  believe  that  the  national  honour  was  so  deeply 
involved  in  this  question  as  was  alleged.  A  war 
which  was  to  begin  by  leaving  the  object  of  the 
contest  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  from  which 
nothing  but  a  fresh  treaty  could  remove  it,  seemed 
;in  absurdity.  "  France,"  said  I  to  Joseph  Bona- 
parte, with  whom  I  was  speaking  on  the  subject, 
while  passing  a  few  days  with  him  at  Morfontaine, 
towards  the  end  of  Germinal,  "France,  depend  upon 


FOB  AND  AGAINST   WAB.  523 

it,  feels  none  of  this  political  sensitiveness ;  the 
only  reason  that  has  been  put  forward,  at  any  rate 
ostensibly,  and  which  tends  to  rekindle  a  conflagra- 
tion which  may  spread  all  over  Europe.  The  real 
desire  of  the  nation  is  for  peace.  It  would  hardly 
have  noticed  a  slight  modification  in  the  Treaty  of 
Amiens.  This  headstrong  war  will  not  be  popular 
among  us,  because  it  endangers  all  the  benefits  we 
have  acquired  through  peace.  It  will,  on  the 
contrary,  be  popular  with  our  enemies,  because  it 
will  tend  to  wipe  out  the  shame  of  an  inglorious 
treaty,  and,  moreover,  to  ruin  our  commerce  and  our 
navy,  which  are  the  objects  of  their  unsleeping 
jealousy.  This  state  of  feeling  at  the  commencement 
of  a  war  is  of  more  importance  than  people  seem  to 
think.  Moreover,  its  beginning  must  necessarily  be 
annoying  and  alarming,  since,  having  no  enemy  on 
the  Continent,  we  shall  have  no  victory  on  land  to 
contrast  with  our  defeats  on  the  sea,  and  with  the 
successive  losses  of  our  ships  and  our  colonies,  of 
which  every  day  will  bring  us  news.  Then  dis- 
couragement will  begin,  murmurs  will  follow,  all 
regard  for  the  head  of  the  Government  will  vanish, 
and  the  consequences  of  these  various  sentiments 
may  be  made  manifest,  before  a  successful  descent  on 
the  enemy's  coast, — our  only  means  of  meeting  him 
and  avenging  ourselves, — comes  to  revive  the  de- 
pressed spirits  of  the  people." 


524      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

These  remarks  made  little  impression  at  the  time 
on  Joseph  Bonaparte.  Under  the  sway  of  his 
brother,  trusting  in  the  inexhaustible  resources  of 
that  brother's  military  genius,  and  taking  a  kind  of 
personal  pride  in  the  strict  execution  of  a  treaty 
which  he  had  himself  negotiated  and  signed,  he 
looked  upon  war  from  a  different  point  of  view ;  and 
though  I  will  do  him  the  justice  to  say  that  had  the 
continuance  of  peace  depended  on  him,  it  would  not 
have  been  broken,  and  that  he  would  even  have 
done  all  in  his  power  to  avoid  war,  still  he  did  not 
rate  the  maintenance  of  peace  so  highly  as  I  did. 

On  my  return  to  Paris  I  found  the  probabilities 
of  a  rupture  greatly  increased.  On  Sunday  the 
11th  Floreal  (May  1)  Lord  Whitworth  did  not 
appear  at  the  usual  ambassadors'  audience.  The 
First  Consul  conversed  for  a  long  time  with  M. 
Markoff,  the  Russian  ambassador,  and  when  the 
audience  was  over,  he  detained  the  members  of  the 
Senate  and  the  Council  of  State,  who,  according  to 
custom,  were  present,  and  began  an  animated 
conversation  with  them.  His  anger  with  England 
was  excessive. 

"  They  want  to  make  us,"  he  said,  speaking  of 
the  English  Ministers,  "they  want  to  make  us 
jump  the  ditch,  and  we'll  jump  it.  How  could  a 
aaticra  of  forty  millions  consent  to  let  another  nation 
lay    down    the    law    lor   it!     The    independence    of 


THE  CASE  AGAINST  ENGLAND.  525 

States  must  come  first ;  before  liberty,  and  before 
the  prosperity  of  trade  and  manufactures.  Can  we 
allow  the  English  to  lay  down  as  a  point  of  doctrine 
that  they  will  only  execute  the  treaties  they  have 
signed,  in  so  far  as  they  shall  not  be  disadvantageous 
to  them  ?  To  accept  a  modification  of  the  Treaty  of 
Amiens  is  to  accept  the  first  link  of  a  chain  which 
will  afterwards  lengthen  itself  out,  and  will  end  by 
our  complete  subjection,  by  a  treaty  of  commerce 
such  as  that  of  1875,  and,  in  short,  by  the  return  of 
a  Commissioner  to  Dunkerque.  Let  us  cede  Malta, 
and  to-morrow  our  vessels  will  be  insulted,  our 
ships  will  be  foiled  to  salute  those  of  the  English, 
and  to  endure  a  disgraceful  inspection.  We  shall 
no  doubt  have  an  arduous  beginning ;  we  shall 
have  to  lament  losses  at  sea,  perhaps  even  the  loss  of 
our  colonies ;  but  we  shall  be  strengthened  on  the 
Continent.  We  have  already  acquired  an  extent 
of  coast  that  makes  us  formidable  ;  we  will  add  to 
this,  we  will  form  a  more  complete  coast-system,  and 
England  shall  end  by  shedding  tears  of  blood  over 
the  war  she  will  have  undertaken. 

"  Wheresoever  in  Europe  there  remains  a  sense  of 
justice,  the  blame  of  this  war  will  be  thrown  on  her. 

"  Whence  this  quarrel  ?  Have  we  given  the 
English  any  cause  of  complaint  ?  I  protest  that 
since  the  Treaty  of  Amiens  we  have  asked  nothing 
of  England.     We  have  left  her  in  quiet,  we   have 


526      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MWT  BE  MELITO. 

faithfully  observed  the  conditions  of  the  treaty. 
Therefore  of  all  men  in  Europe  perhaps  I  was 
the  most  surprised  at  the  King  of  England's  speech. 
Armaments  !*  I  have  ordered  none.  Negotiations 
attempted  with  England  !  I  have  neither  opened 
nor  entertained  any  since  the  Peace  of  Amiens.f 
The  whole  thing  is  the  fable  of  the  wolf  and  the 
lamb.  For  the  last  seven  weeks  the  English  have 
acted  with  as  much  insolence  as  we  have  shown 
reserve  and  moderation.  Did  they,  finding  me  so 
moderate — me,  whom  they  know  to  be  of  little 
endurance — imagine  that  I  would  not  dare  to  make 
war?  That,  being  forced  to  conciliate  the  people, 
I  should  not  be  able  to  resist  ?  They  deceive 
themselves.  Their  emissaries,  and  the  sums  they 
expend  to  sow  dissensions  among  us,  have  hitherto 
entirely  failed  of  success  ;  they  are  employing  their 
money  very  ill. 

"  But  what  disappoints  them  most  is  this.  They 
believe  we  could  not  exist  through  a  peace,  that 
our  internal  divisions  would  do  us  more  harm  than 
war,  and  that  we  have  only  to  be  left  to  ourselves 
to  perish.  At  the  present  time  the  order  prevailing 
in  France,  the  satisfactory  aspect  of  our  administra- 

Allusion  was  mado  in  the  King's  speech  to  tho  extra- 
ordinary armaments  taking  place  in  the  French  ports. 

The  overtures  made  to  Lord  Whitworth  in  his  interview 
with  Bonaparte  a  month  before,  had  been  regarded  in  England 
as  the  beginning  of  negotiations. 


THE   CASE  AGAINST  ENGLAND.  527 

tion,  and  our  finance,  alarm  them  much  more  than 
our  alleged  armaments.  By  their  arrogance  and 
their  insolent  pretensions  they  are  endeavouring  to 
effect  what  their  infernal  policy  failed  in  doing. 

"  But  can  we  fail  to  be  astonished  at  the  conduct 
of  their  Ministry  at  the  present  moment  ?  Can  we 
avoid  seeing  its  positive  insanity?  What!  they 
want  to  fight  us  in  a  second  war,  and  they  begin 
by  restoring  to  us  the  Cape,  Martinique,  and  Elba, 
and  by  evacuating  Egypt,  and  then  they  make 
difficulties  on  one  single  point  of  the  treaty,  Malta ; 
an  article  guaranteed  by  the  Continental  Powers ! 
of  a  truth,  there  is  both  folly  and  extravagance  in 
such  conduct. 

"At  the  present  moment,  when  the  crisis  is 
impending,  they  send  us,  through  their  ambassador, 
a  summons  to  answer  their  demand  within  six  days, 
at  the  expiration  of  which  he  announces  that  he 
has  orders  to  leave  Paris ;  and  the  ambassador  will 
not  even  communicate  this  to  us  in  writing !  We 
ask  him  for  a  Note  on  which  we  may  deliberate,  and 
he  refuses !  Let  him  go,  then !  we  shall  have 
nothing  to  reproach  ourselves  with. 

"  Now,  is  it  in  our  power  to  give  them  what 
does  not  belong  to  us  ?  For  they  do  not  restrict 
their  claims  to  Malta ;  they  ask  besides  for  the  island 
of  Lampedusa,  which  does  not  belong  to  France. 
Lastly,    they    demand    reparation    for    disrespectful 


528      MEMOIBS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

articles  in  our  newspapers,  while  every  day  their 
own  overwhelm  us  with  insult  and  outrage  carried 
to  excess !  But  they  want  to  he  able  to  vituperate 
us,  without  being  abused  in  return  ;  this  is  another 
of  their  political  doctrines." 

This  conversation,  or  rather  this  allocution,  for  no 
one  expressed  either  approval  or  the  reverse,  lasted 
about  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  and  was  interrupted 
and  resumed  several  times.  I  have  given  its  most 
striking  expressions  and  phraseology,  just  as  I 
transcribed  them  at  the  time. 

Notwithstanding  this  almost  public  manifestation 
of  the  mind  of  the  First  Consul,  and  the  small  hope 
it  left  of  the  continuance  of  peace,  negotiations  were 
not,  as  yet,  broken  off.  For,  independently  of  those 
officially  carried  on  between  the  English  ambassador 
and  M.  de  Talleyrand,  the  secret  negotiation  in 
which  Regnault  de  St.  Jean-d'Augely  had  taken 
part  was  still  in  progress.  Malouet,  a  former  member 
of  the  Constituent  Assembly  was  also  engaged 
in  the  latter.  lie  had  seen  Joseph  Bonaparte  twice, 
and  had  contrived  secret  interviews  between  him 
;iim1  Lord  Whitworth,  who  had  several  times  declared 
that  lie  would  treat  solely  with  Joseph  Bonaparte, 
: i  ii*l  not  with  Talleyrand  or  his  creatures,  whom,  he 
said,  lie  could  only  approach  with  bribes  in  his  hand. 
No  better  understanding  had,  however,  been  arrived 
;il    in   these  fresh  conferences  than  in  the  preceding 


A   SCENE  AT   THE   COUNCIL   OF  STATE       529 


ones,  which  were  carried  on  through  Hubert.  The 
First  Consul  would  concede  nothing.  But  notwith- 
standing his  stubbornness,  he  was  persuaded  until 
the  very  day  of  audience  that  Lord  Whitworth 
would  be  present,  and  would  accept  the  invitation  to 
dinner  that  he  had  sent  him.  The  absence  of  the 
ambassador  and  his  refusal  of  this  invitation  had 
deeply  hurt  the  First  Consul,  and  brought  about 
the  explosion  of  anger  which  took  place,  as  I  have 
said,  in  presence  of  the  Senate  and  the  Council 
of  State. 

After  such  a  speech,  it  was  impossible  any  longer 
to  doubt  that  Bonaparte  was  resolved  to  go  to  war. 
I  even  thought  it  undignified  on  his  part,  after  ex- 
pressing himself  so  openly  on  the  subject,  to  try  any 
further  means  of  conciliation.  This,  however,  he  did. 
Either  the  First  Consul,  when  the  decisive  moment 
approached,  became  alarmed  at  the  consequences  of 
the  step  he  was  about  to  take,  or  he  only  wished  to 
gain  time,  or  to  justify  the  resolution  he  had  come 
to  by  further  and  more  pacific  propositions;  for 
negotiations  were  resumed  on  Monday  the  12th 
Flore'al  (May  1)  with  fresh  activity.  On  the  am- 
bassador's sending  for  his  passports,  the  Minister  of 
Exterior  Eelations  made  an  evasive  reply  and  the 
passports  were  not  forwarded.  Then  Begnault  de 
St.  Jean-d'Angely  was  commissioned  to  propose,  as  a 
mezzo  termine,  that  Malta  should  be  left  in  the  hands 

VOL.  1.  2    M 


530      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

of  Russia.  This  proposal,  which  was  carried  by 
Malouet  to  the  ambassador  at  10  p.m.  on  the  Tuesday 
was  rejected.  Lord  Whitworth  declared  that  he  could 
not  accede  to  it,  and  insisted  on  the  absolute  sur- 
render of  the  island.  His  reply  having  been  communi- 
cated to  Joseph  Bonaparte,  the  latter  hinted  that  the 
exact  date  of  the  handing  over  of  Malta  to  Russia 
would  be  considered  immaterial,  and  that  as  the 
island  would  remain  in  the  hands  of  England  until 
it  passed  under  Russian  rule,  such  an  arrangement 
might  be  regarded  as  a  veritable  cession.  Wednes- 
day was  spent  in  these  conferences.  Extraordinary 
sittings  of  the  Senate,  of  the  Council  of  State, 
of  the  Legislative  Body  and  of  the  Tribunate 
had  been  announced  for  the  following  day,  the 
15th  Flore'al  (May  5).  Messages  or  communications 
from  the  Government  were  to  have  announced 
the  rupture  with  England  to  all  these  bodies.  The 
parts  had  been  distributed,  and  the  Presidents 
forewarned;  orators  who  might  be  depended  on  had 
perpared  their  speeches.  But  nothing  of  all  this 
took  place,  and  for  the  following  reasons. 

The  secret  negotiation,  opened  on  the  preceding 
day,  had  assumed  an  official  character.  Lord 
Whitworth  had  seen  M.  dc  Talleyrand  at  5  p.m. 
The  proposal  to  cede  Malta  to  Russia,  was  seriously 
consiered,  with  the  reservation  that  the  date  of  the 
handing  over  was  not  to  bo  insisted  on,  so  that  the 


LORD    WIIITWORTH'S  COURSE.  531 


proposal,  thus  understood,  tended  practically  to  leave 
Malta  for  a  long  time,  if  not  for  ever,  in  the  power 
of  England.  Lord  Whitworth  could  not  have  agreed 
to  this  without  exceeding  his  instructions,  but  he- 
consented  to  despatch  a  courier  to  London,  and  to 
defer  his  own  departure  for  ten  days,  so  as  to  allow 
time  for  his  receiving  an  answer. 

That  answer  arrived  on  Monday  the  19th  Flore'al 
(May  9),  and  on  the  following  day,  Lord  Whitworth 
presented  a  note  containing  the  result  of  the  de- 
liberations of  the  Cabinet  of  St.  James's. 

The  offer  to  place  Malta  in  the  hands  of  Russia 
was  rejected,  the  special  reason  being  that  the  latter 
Power  had  not  given  a  formal  consent  to  that 
arrangement.  But,  while  declining  it,  the  English 
Government  made  further  propositions,  of  which 
the  principal  ones  were  as  follows : 

1.  The  complete  cession  of  the  Isle  of  Lampedusa, 
with  power  to  erect  buildings  and  a  fort ; 

2.  The  right  of  remaining  in  Malta  until  such 
time  as  the  erections  on  the  Isle  of  Lampedusa 
should  be  completed  (this  was  a  secret  article)  ; 

3.  A  fair  indemnity  to  the  King  of  Sardinia  ; 

4.  The  evacuation  of  Holland,  and  of  Switzerland. 

The  increase  to  French  territory  since  the  Peace 
of  Amiens  was  recognised.  But  an  answer  to  these 
propositions  was  required  within    thirty-six    hours, 

2  m  2 


532      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


at   the    expiration  of  which   time   the    ambassador 
was  ordered  to  leave  Paris. 

The  note  was  ill-received  by  the  First  Consul. 
The  last  clause  especially,  requiring  a  reply  within 
six-and-thirty  hours,  made  him  excessively  angry. 
He  roughly  blamed  Talleyrand  for  not  having  im- 
mediately sent  it  back,  and  went  so  far  as  to  say 
that  in  venturing  to  present  it  to  him  Talleyrand 
had  been  guilty  of  disrespect. 

In  this  frame  of  mind,  he  summoned  for  the 
following  day,  "Wednesday  21st  Flore'al  (May  11th), 
a  Privy  Council  composed  of  the  Two  Consuls, 
Joseph  Bonaparte,  the  Ministers  of  War,  Marine 
and  Exterior  Relations. 

The  proceedings  opened  with  a  discussion  of  the 
English  ambassador's  note.  The  First  Consul 
spoke  with  great  vehemence.  He  again  attacked 
Talleyrand,  who  endured  the  storm  with  patience, 
and,  together  with  Joseph  Bonaparte,  persistently 
declared  himself  on  the  side  of  peace.  The  other 
members  of  the  Council  took  part  with  the  First 
Consul,  and  still  further  excited  his  anger,  which 
already  was  at  white-heat.  It  was  resolved  by  a 
large  majority  that  a  negative  answer  should  be 
returned  to  the  ambassador.  A  reply  in  that 
scns<>  w;is  accordingly  drawn  up,  and  the  order  was 
given  that  his  passports  should  be  forwarded. 

All    was   over  by   the  Wednesday    evening,  and 


JOSEPH  BONAPARTE'S  EFFORTS.  533 


there  was  no  longer  room  for  hope.  But  Joseph 
Bonaparte  made,  as  from  himself,  one  final  effort. 
He  offered  to  obtain  his  brother's  consent  to  the 
arrangement  proposed  by  the  English  Government, 
on  condition  that  France  should  maintain  a  gar- 
rison at  Otranto,  during  the  occupation  of  Malta  by 
the  English.  On  Thursday  morning,  two  further 
interviews  took  place  between  Lord  Whitworth 
and  Joseph  Bonaparte,  who  then  repaired  to  St. 
Cloud  to  report  the  result.  The  ambassador  con- 
sented to  defer  his  departure,  if  the  First  Consul 
would  convey  to  him  officially  the  proposition  that 
had  been  made  only  in  confidence.  He  even  pro- 
mised, should  the  First  Consul  decline  to  take  that 
step  ostensibly,  to  travel  slowly,  in  order  to  be  still 
on  French  territory  when  an  answer  should  be 
received  to  the  despatch  which  he  undertook  to  send 
to  London. 

Without  formally  rejecting  the  proposal  that 
Joseph  Bonaparte  appeared  to  have  made  of  his 
own  accord,  but  which,  nevertheless,  I  believe  he 
had  not  taken  entirely  upon  himself  to  make,  the 
First  Consul  declined  to  give  any  official  character 
to  this  proceeding.  Lord  Whitworth  therefore 
asked  for  his  passports,  obtained  them,  and  prepared 
to  set  out  on  the  evening  of  Thursday  the  22nd 
Floreal  (May  12).* 

*  As  the  note  in  answer  to  the  English  ultimatum  is  dated 


534      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MEL1T0. 

On  that  same  day  a  post  arrived  from  St.  Peters- 
burg. It  did  not  bring,  as  had  been  hoped  and  was 
reported,  the  positive  consent  of  Russia  to  receive 
Malta  in  deposit,  but  an  assurance  from  the  Emperor 
Alexander  that  he  would  accept  the  office  of  me- 
diator between  England  and  France,  and  that  he  was 
willing  to  accede  to  all  the  arrangements  which 
those  two  Powers  might  adopt  in  the  interests  of 
peace. 

M.  de  Markoff  hastened  to  Lord  Whitworth,  and, 
according  to  instructions  received  from  his  Court, 
earnestly  begged  him  not  to  leave  Paris.  He  did  not 
succeed,  but  the  English  ambassador  promised  to 
forward  another  despatch,  and  renewed  his  pledge  of 
travelling  with  so  little  speed  as  to  be  still  in  France 
when  replies  from  London  should  reach  him. 

Lord  Whitworth  left  Paris  late  on  the  22nd 
I -'I  ureal  (May  12),  and  remained  for  the  night  at 
Ciiantilly.  A  crowd  gathered  at  his  doors  at  the 
lime  he  was  to  set  out,  for  his  departure  occasioned 
real  consternation.  For  some  days  past  a  kind  of 
popular  ferment  had  been  noticeable.  A  consider- 
able number  of  new  crown-pieces,  on  which  the 
effigy  of  the  First  Consul  had  been  defaced,  were 
circulating    in   the   markets,    and  some  murmuring 


23rd  Floreal,  it  would  seem  that  it  was  addressed  to  the 
ambassador  after  midnight,  either  when  he  was  just  setting  out, 
or  when  he  was  already  on  the  road. 


WAR!  535 

was  heard.  This  was  however  only  a  temporary 
effervescence,  and  had  no  further  consequences. 

After  the  ambassador's  departure,  the  First 
Consul  himself  dictated  a  note  to  his  brother,  in 
which  he  proposed  leaving  Malta  for  ten  years  in 
the  hands  of  England,  provided  that  for  the  same 
space  of  time  the  French  should  maintain  garrisons 
at  Otranto  and  in  the  Kingdom  of  Naples.  This 
proposition  was  conveyed  to  the  Secretary  to  the 
English  Embassy,  who  still  remained  in  Paris,  and 
who  took  it  to  Lord  TVhitworth.  Eegnault  de  St. 
Jean-d'Angely  and  the  M.  Hubert  of  whom  I  have 
already  spoken  were  the  intermediaries  in  this  last 
negotiation,  which  at  first  seemed  to  promise  success. 
But  it  failed  like  the  others.  Lord  Whitworth 
continued  his  journey.  General  Andreossy,  the 
French  ambassador  in  London,  had  in  like  manner 
left  that  capital,  and  the  two  ambassadors  crossed 
the  Straits  on  the  same  day.  Thus  all  was  over, 
and  war  was  declared. 

The  departure  of  the  English  ambassador  had 
been  merely  announced,  without  comment,  in  the 
'  Moniteur '  of  the  24th  Flore'al.  But  the  Council  of 
State  was  assembled  on  the  same  day,  and  the  First 
Consul  presided  at  the  sitting.  He  began  by  saying 
that  he  had  thought  it  his  duty  not  to  leave  such  a 
body  as  the  Council  of  State  any  longer  in  ignorance 
of  events  relating  to  matters  of  such  importance ; 


536      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

that  he  therefore  would  order  that  the  note  which 
the  Minister  of  Exterior  Kelations  had  handed  to 
Lord  "Whitworth  from  hirn  (the  First  Consul)  on  the 
preceding  day,  in  answer  to  the  English  ultimatum 
of  the  20th  Floreal,  should  be  read  to  us ;  that, 
nevertheless,  as  all  hope  of  an  understanding  had 
not  as  yet  died  out,  although  for  his  own  part  he 
retained  but  little,  he  thought  the  communication 
should  not  as  yet  be  published,  but  for  the  present 
should  be  made  by  some  of  the  Councillors  of  State 
to  the  three  Constituent  Bodies  of  the  State,  and  by 
them  received  at  a  private  sitting.  The  note,  as 
published  in  the  'Moniteur'  of  the  30th  Floreal,  was 
then  read  aloud  to  us  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  and 
its  moderate  and  dignified  tone  was  generally  com- 
mended. I  remarked,  however,  that  it  touched 
very  lightly  on  our  acquisitions  since  the  Peace 
of  Amiens,  and  not  at  all  on  Colonel  Sebastiani's 
report,  which  was  one  of  England's  grievances  against 
the  French  Government,  and  probably  the  real 
cause  of  England's  laying  claim  to  Malta.  But  these 
were  our  two  weak  points,  as  they  were  the  strong 
ones  of  the  English  Ministry. 

After  the  reading  of  the  note,  the  First  Consul 
Darned  three  of  the  Councillors  of  State  to  take  it  to 
the  Senate,  the  Legislative  Body  and  the  Tribunate; 
and  a  few  «lays  later,  on  the  30th  Floreal,  when 
Dews    bad    c thai     the   two   ambassadors    had 


A  SITTING   OF  THE   COUNCIL.  537 


crossed  the  Channel,  the  note  was  published  in  the 
4  Moniteur.'  On  the  same  day  the  Council  of  State 
was  again  convoked  extraordinarily,  and  in  the 
morning  I  received  a  line  from  the  Secretary  of 
State  informing  me  that  I  had  been  appointed  by 
the  First  Consul,  with  two  of  my  colleagues 
(Be'renger  and  Pe'tiet),  to  speak  on  behalf  of  the 
Government  at  the  Tribunate. 

All  the  Ministers  were  present  at  the  sitting, 
which  was  presided  over  by  the  Second  Consul.  He 
informed  us  that,  under  present  circumstances  with 
regard  to  England,  the  Government  had  thought  it 
well  to  communicate  to  the  different  bodies  of  the 
State  the  papers  relating  to  the  negotiations  with 
England,  beginning  with  the  first  steps  taken  shortly 
after  the  18th  Brumaire,  comprising  all  that  had 
taken  place  when  preliminaries  had  been  signed  in 
London  between  M.  Otto  and  Lord  Hawkesbury, 
and  the  protocol  of  the  Treaty  of  Amiens ;  ending 
with  the  recent  transactions  from  which  the  present 
rupture  had  resulted.  After  this,  the  message  was 
read  to  us,  and  then  the  Councillors  of  State,  who 
had  been  named  beforehand  to  convey  it  to  the 
various  bodies,  set  out  on  their  errand. 

The  message  and  the  voluminous  papers  appended 
to  it  appear  in  the  'Moniteur'  of  the  1st  Prairial.  I 
examined  them  at  the  time  with  great  care,  but  I 
sought  in  vain  for  what  I   had  been  told  I   should 


538      ME3I0IBS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

find  there, — some  positive  information  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  England,  during  the  negotiations 
at  Amiens,  had  regarded  events  in  Italy.*  Nor  could 

*  The  explanations,  which  the  author  sought  in  vain  among  the 

documents  published  by  the  '  Moniteur,'  are  to  be  found  in  the 

following  despatch  from  Lord  Hawkesbury  to  Lord  Wbitworth, 

dated  February  9,  1803. 

"  Downing  Street,  February  9,  1803. 

"In  answer  to  your  Excellency's  despatch  of  January  27, 
relative  to  the  enquiry  made  of  you  by  the  French  Government, 
on  the  subject  of  Malta,  I  can  have  no  difficulty  in  assuring 
you  that  His  Majesty  has  entertained  a  most  sincere  desire  that 
the  Treaty  of  Amiens  might  be  executed  in  a  full  and  complete 
manner ;  but  it  has  not  been  possible  for  him  to  consider  this 
treaty  as   having  been    founded    on    principles  different   from 
those  which  have  been  invariably  applied  to  every  other  ante- 
cedent treaty  or  convention,  namely  that  they  were  negotiated 
with  reference  to  the  actual  state  of  possession  of  the  ditferent 
parties,  and  of  the   treaties  or   public  engagements  by  which 
they  were  bound  at  the  time  of  its  conclusion ;  and  that  if  that 
state  of  possession  and  of  engagements  was  so  instantly  altered 
by  the  act  of  either  of  the  parties  as  to  affect  the  nature  of  the 
compact  itself,  the  other  party  has  a  right,  according  to  the  law 
of  nations,  to  interfere  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  satisfaction 
or  compensation  for  any  essential  difference  which  such  acts  may 
have  subsequently  made  in  their  relative  situation  ;  that  if  there 
ever  was  a  case  to  which  this  principle  might  be  applied  with 
peculiar  propriety,  it  was  that  of  the  late  treaty  of  peace;  for 
the  negotiation  was  conducted  on  a  basis  not  merely  proposed 
by  His  Majesty,  but  specially  agreed  to  in  an  official  noto  by  tho 
French  Government,  viz.  that  His  Majesty  should  keep  a  coni- 
pensation  out  of  his  conquests  for  tho  important  acquisitions  of 
territory  made  by  Franco  upon  the  (  oiilinent.     This  is  a  sufficient 
proof  thai  the  compact  was  understood  to  have  been  concluded 
with    reference    to  the  then   existing   state  of  things;  for  the 


THE   VIEWS  OF  ENGLAND.  539 

I  find  any  confirmation  of  Russia's  consent  to  hold 
Malta  as  a  deposit.  This  last  circumstance  has 
always  been  doubtful. 


measure  of  His  Majesty's  compensation  was  to  be  calculated 
with  reference  to  the  acquisitions  of  France  at  that  time ;  and 
if  the  interference  of  the  French  Government  in  the  general 
affairs  of  Europe  since  that  period ;  if  their  interposition  with 
respect  to  Switzerland  and  Holland,  whose  independence  was 
guaranteed  by  them  at  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  of  peace ; 
if  the  annexations  which  have  been  made  to  France  in  various 
quarters,  but  particularly  those  in  Italy,  have  extended  the 
territory  and  increased  the  power  of  the  French  Government, 
His  Majesty  would  be  warranted,  consistently  with  the  spirit  of 
the  treaty  of  peace,  in  claiming  equivalents  for  these  acquisi- 
tions, as  a  counterpoise  to  the  augmentation  of  the  power  of 
France.  His  Majesty,  however,  anxious  to  prevent  all  ground 
of  misunderstanding,  and  desirous  of  consolidating  the.  general 
peace  of  Europe,  as  far  as  might  be  in  his  power,  was  willing  to 
have  waived  the  pretensions  he  might  have  a  right  to  advance 
of  this  nature  ;  and  as  the  other  articles  of  the  definitive  treaty 
have  been  in  a  course  of  execution  on  his  part,  so  he  would  have 
been  ready  to  have  carried  into  effect  the  true  interest  and  spirit 
of  the  10th  Article,  the  execution  of  which,  according  to  its 
terms,  had  been  rendered  impracticable  by  circumstances  which 
it  was  not  in  His  Majesty's  power  to  control.  A  communication 
to  your  Lordship  would  accordingly  have  been  prepared  con- 
formably to  this  disposition,  if  the  attention  of  His  Majesty's 
Government  had  not  been  attracted  by  the  very  extraordinary 
publication  of  the  report  of  Colonel  Sebastiani  to  the  First 
Consul.  It  is  impossible  for  His  Majesty  to  view  this  report  in 
any  other  light  than  as  an  official  publication;  for  without 
referring  particularly  to  explanations,  which  have  been  re- 
peatedly given  upon  the  subject  of  publications  in  the  '  Moniteur,' 
the  article  in  question,  as  it  purports  to  be  the  report  to  the 
First  Consul  of  an  accredited  agent,  as  it  appears  to  have  been 


540      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

The  following  is  the  despatch  addressed  by  Lord 
Whitworth  to  Lord  Hawkesbury,  and  alluded  to  in 
the  preceding  pages. 

"Paris,  February  21,  1803. 
"  My  Lord. — My  last  despatch,  in  which  I 
gave  your  Lordship  an  account  of  my  conference 
with  M.  de  Talleyrand,  was  scarcely  gone,  when  I 


signed  by  Colonel  Sebastiani  himself,  and  as  it  is  published  in 
the  official  paper,  with  an  official  title  affixed  to  it,  must  be 
considered  as   authorised  by  the   French   Government.      This 
report  contains  the  most  unjustifiable  insinuations  and  charges 
against  the  officer  who  commanded  his  forces    in  Egypt,  and 
against   the    British   army  in    that    quarter,    insinuations   and 
charges   wholly   destitute   of   foundation,  and  such   as   would 
warrant  His  Majesty  in  demanding  that  satisfaction,  which,  on 
occasions  of  this  nature,  independent  Powers  in  a  state  of  amity 
have  a  right  to  expect  from  each  other.     It  discloses,  moreover, 
views  in  the  highest  degree   injurious  to  the  interests  of  His 
Majesty's  dominions,  and  directly  repugnant  to  and  utterly  in- 
consistent with  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the   treaty  of  peace 
concluded  between  His  Majesty  and  the  French  Government; 
and  His  Majesty  would  feel  that  ho  was  wanting  in  a  proper 
regard  to  the  honour  of  his  Crown,  and  to  the  interests  of  his 
dominion,    if  ho   could    see   with    indifference   such   a    system 
developed  and  avowed.     His  Majesty  cannot,  therefore,  regard 
the  conduct  of  the  French  Government  on  various  occasions 
winco  the  conclusion  of  the  definitive  treaty,  the  insinuations  and 
charges  contained   in  the  report  of  Colonel  Sebastiani,  and  the 
views  which  that  report  discloses,  without  feeling  it  necessary 
for  him  distinctly  to  doclaro  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  him 
to  enter  into  any  further  discussion  relative  to  Malta,  unless  he 
receives  satisfactory   explanation   on    the  subject  of   this  com- 
munication. 

"  Your    Kxcellcncy  is  desired    to  lake1  an  early  opportunity  of 


LORD    WHITWORTRS  DESPATCH.  541 


received  a  note  from  him,  informing  me  that  the 
First  Consul  wished  to  converse  with  me,  and 
desired  I  would  come  to  him  at  the  Tuileries  at 
9  o'clock.  He  received  me  in  his  cabinet,  with 
tolerable  cordiality,  and,  after  talking  on  different 
subjects  for  a  few  minutes,  he  desired  me  to  sit 
down,  as  he  himself  did  on  the  other  side  of  the 
table,  and  began.  He  told  me  that  he  felt  it 
necessary,  after  what  had  passed  between  me  and 
M.  Talleyrand,  that  he  should,  in  the  most  clear  and 
authentick  manner,  make  known  his  sentiments  to 
me  in  order  to  their  being  communicated  to  His 
Majesty ;  and  he  conceived  this  would  be  more 
effectually  done  by  himself  than  through  any 
medium  whatever.  He  said,  that  it  was  a  matter 
of  infinite  disappointment  to  him  that  the  Treaty 
of  Amiens,  instead  of  being  followed  by  conciliation 
and  friendship,  the  natural  effects  of  peace,  had 
been  productive  only  of  continual  and  increasing- 
jealousy  and  mistrust;  and  that  this  mistrust  was 
now  avowed  in  such  a  manner  as  must  bring  the 
point  to  an  issue. 


fully  explaining  His  Majesty's  sentiments  as  above  stated  to  the 

French  Government. 

"  I  am,  &c., 
(Signed)  "  Hawkesbury. 

"  His  Excellency,  Lord  Whitworth,  K.B." 
&c.  &c.  &c. 


542       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MTOT  BE  MELITO. 

"  He  now  enumerated  the  several  provocations 
which  he  pretended  to  have  received  from  England. 
He  placed  in  the  first  line  our  not  evacuating  Malta 
and  Alexandria,  as  we  were  bound  to  do  by  treaty. 

"  In  this  he  said  that  no  consideration  on  earth 
should  make  him  acquiesce ;  and  of  the  two,  he  had 
rather  see  us  in  possession  of  the  Fauxbourg  St. 
Antoine  than  Malta.  He  then  adverted  to  the 
abuse  thrown  out  against  him  in  the  English 
publick  prints  ;  but  this  he  said  he  did  not  so  much 
regard  as  that  which  appeared  in  the  Frenclj  papers 
published  in  London.  This  he  considered  as  much 
more  mischievous,  since  it  was  meant  to  excite  this 
country  against  him  and  his  Government.  He 
complained  of  the  protection  given  to  Georges  and 
others  of  his  description,  who,  instead  of  being  sent 
to  Canada,  as  had  been  repeatedly  promised,  were 
permitted  to  remain  in  England,  handsomely 
pensioned,  and  constantly  committing  all  sorts  of 
crimes  on  the  coasts  of  France,  as  well  as  in  the 
interior.  In  confirmation  of  this,  he  told  me,  that 
two  men  had  within  these  few  days  been  appre- 
hended in  Normandy,  and  were  now  on  their  way 
to  Paris,  who  were  hired  assassins,  and  employed 
by  the  Bishop  of  Arras,  by  the  Baron  do  Rolle,  by 
Georges,  and  by  Dutheil,  as  would  be  fully  proved 
in  a  Court  of  Justice,  and  made  known  to  the 
world. 


LOBD    WHITWORTRS  DESPATCH.  543 


"  He  acknowledged  that  the  irritation  he  felt 
against  England  increased  daily,  because  every 
wind  [I  make  use  as  much  as  I  can  of  his  own  ideas 
and  expressions]  which  blew  from  England  brought 
nothing  but  enmity  and  hatred  against  him. 

u  He  now  went  back  to  Egypt,  and  told  me,  that 
if  he  had  felt  the  smallest  inclination  to  take 
possession  of  it  by  force,  he  might  have  done  it  a 
month  ago,  by  sending  twenty-five  thousand  men 
to  Aboukir,  who  would  have  possessed  themselves 
of  the  whole  country  in  defiance  of  the  four 
thousand  British  in  Alexandria.  That,  instead  of 
that  garrison  being  a  means  of  protecting  Egypt,  it 
was  only  furnishing  him  with  a  pretence  for 
invading  it.  This  he  should  not  do,  whatever 
might  be  his  desire  to  have  it  as  a  colony,  because 
he  did  not  think  it  worth  the  risk  of  a  war,  in  which 
he  might,  perhaps,  be  considered  as  the  aggressor, 
and  by  which  he  should  lose  more  than  he  could 
gain,  since,  sooner  or  later,  Egypt  would  belong  to 
France,  by  the  falling  to  pieces  of  the  Turkish 
Empire,  or  by  some  arrangement  with  the  Porte. 

"  As  a  proof  of  his  desire  to  maintain  peace,  he 
wished  to  know  what  he  had  to  gain  by  going  to 
war  with  England.  A  descent  was  the  only  means 
of  offence  he  had,  and  that  he  was  determined  to 
attempt,  by  putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  expe- 
dition.    But   how   could   it  be   supposed  that   after 


544      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


having  gained  the  height  on  which  he  stood,  he 
would  risk  his  life  and  reputation  in  such  a  hazardous 
attempt,  unless  forced  to  it  by  necessity,  when  the 
chances  were  that  he  and  the  greatest  part  of  the 
expedition  would  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  He 
talked  much  on  this  subject,  but  never  affected  to 
diminish  the  danger.  He  acknowledged  that  there 
were  one  hundred  chances  to  one  against  him ;  but 
still  he  was  determined  to  attempt  it,  if  war  should 
be  the  consequence  of  the  present  discussion ;  and 
such  was  the  disposition  of  the  troops,  that  army 
after  army  would  be  found  for  the  enterprise. 

"  He  then  expatiated  much  on  the  natural  force  of 
the  two  countries.  France,  with  an  army  of  four 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand  men,  for  to  this  amount 
it  is,  he  said,  to  be  immediately  completed,  all  ready 
for  the  most  desperate  enterprises  ;  and  England, 
with  a  fleet  that  made  her  mistress  of  the  seas,  and 
which  he  did  not  think  he  should  be  able  to  equal  in 
less  than  ten  years.  Two  such  countries,  by  a  proper 
understanding,  might  govern  the  world,  but  by  their 
strifes  might  overturn  it.  He  said,  that  if  he  had  not 
felt  the  enmity  of  the  British  Government  on  every 
occasion  since  the  Treaty  of  Amiens,  there  would 
have  been  nothing  that  he  would  not  have  done 
to  prove  his  desire  to  conciliate;  participation,  in 
indemnities  as  well  as  in  influence  on  the  Continent, 
treaties  of  commerce,  in  short,  anything  that  could 


LORD    WEITWORTR'S  DESPATCH.  545 

have  given  satisfaction,  and  have  testified  his  friend- 
ship. Nothing,  however,  had  been  able  to  conquer 
the  enmity  of  the  British  Government,  and  therefore 
it  was  now  come  to  the  point,  whether  we  should 
have  peace  or  war.  To  preserve  peace,  the  Treaty 
of  Amiens  must  be  fulfilled ;  the  abuse  in  the  public 
prints,  if  not  totally  suppressed,  at  least  kept  within 
bounds,  and  confined  to  the  English  papers ;  and 
the  protection  so  openly  given  to  his  bitterest  enemies 
[alluding  to  G-eorges  and  persons  of  that  description] 
must  be  withdrawn.  If  war,  it  was  necessary  only 
to  say  so,  and  to  refuse  to  fulfil  the  treaty.  He 
now  made  the  tour  of  Europe  to  prove  to  me  that 
in  its  present  state  there  was  no  Power  with  which 
we  could  coalesce  for  the  purpose  of  making  war 
against  France  ;  consequently  it  was  our  interest  to 
gain  time,  and  if  we  had  any  point  to  gain,  renew 
the  war  when  circumstances  were  more  favourable. 
He  said,  it  was  not  doing  him  justice  to  suppose  that 
he  conceived  himself  above  the  opinion  of  his  country 
or  of  Europe.  He  would  not  risk  uniting  Europe 
against  him  by  any  violent  act  of  aggression  ; 
neither  was  he  so  powerful  in  France  as  to  persuade 
the  nation  to  go  to  war  unless  on  good  grounds. 
He  said  that  he  had  not  chastised  the  Algerines, 
from  his  unwillingness  to  excite  the  jealousy  of 
other  Powers,  but  he  hoped  that  England,  Russia, 
and  France  would  one  day  feel  that  it  was  their 
vol.  i.  2  N 


546      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

interest  to  destroy  such  a  nest  of  thieves,  and  force 
them  to  live  rather  by  cultivating  their  land  than  by 
plunder. 

"  In  the  little  I  said  to  him,  for  he  gave  me  in  the 
course  of  two  hours  but  very  few  opportunities  of 
saying  a  word,  I  confined  myself  strictly  to  the 
tenor  of  your  Lordship's  instructions.  I  urged 
them  in  the  same  manner  as  I  had  done  to  M.  de 
Talleyrand,  and  dwelt  as  strongly  as  I  could  on  the 
sensation  which  the  publication  of  Sebastiani's  report 
had  created  in  England,  where  the  views  of  France 
towards  Egypt  must  always  command  the  utmost 
vigilance  and  jealousy.  He  maintained  that  what 
ought  to  convince  us  of  his  desire  of  peace,  was  on 
the  one  hand  the  little  he  had  to  gain  by  renewing 
the  war,  and  on  the  other  the  facility  with  which  he 
might  have  taken  possession  of  Egypt  with  the  very 
si  lips  and  troops  which  were  now  going  from  the 
Mediterranean  to  St.  Domingo,  and  that  with  the 
approbation  of  all  Europe,  and  more  particularly  <>f 
the  Turks,  who  had  repeatedly  invited  him  to  join 
with  them  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  us  to  evacuate 
their  territory. 

"  I  do  not  pretend  to  follow  the  arguments  of  the 
Kirst  Consul  in  detail  ;  lliis  would  hi1  impossible, 
from  the  vast  variety  of  mailer  which  lie  took  occa- 
sion lo  introduce.  His  purpose  was  evidently  to 
convince  me   that  on    Malta  must  depend  peace  or 


LORD    WHITWOBTH'S  DESPATCH.  547 

war,  and  at  the  same  time  to  impress  upon  my  mind 
a  strong  idea  of  the  means  he  possessed  of  annoying 
us  at  home  and  abroad. 

"  With  regard  to  the  mistrust  and  jealousy  which 
he  said  constantly  prevailed  since  the  conclusion  of 
the  Treaty  of  Amiens,  I  observed,  that  after  a  war  of 
such  long  duration,  so  full  of  rancour,  and  carried 
on  in  a  manner  of  which  history  has  no  example,  it- 
was  but  natural  that  a  considerable  degree  of  agita- 
tion should  prevail  :  but  this,  like  the  swell  after  a 
storm,  would  gradually  subside,  if  not  kept  up  by 
the  policy  of  either  party ;  that  I  would  not  pretend 
to  pronounce  which  had  been  the  aggressor  in  the 
paper  war  of  which  he  complained,  and  which  was 
still  kept  up,  though  with  this  difference,  that  in 
England  it  was  independent  of  Government,  and  in 
France  its  very  act  and  deed.  To  this  I  added,  that 
it  must  be  admitted  that  we  had  such  motives  of 
mistrust  against  France  as  could  not  be  alleged 
against  us,  and  I  was  going  to  instance  the  accession 
of  territory  and  influence  gained  by  France  since  the 
treaty,  when  he  interrupted  me  by  saying  '  I 
suppose  you  mean  Piedmont  and  Switzerland ;  "  ce 
sont  des  bagatelles  : "  and  it  must  have  been  foreseen 
whilst  the  negotiation  was  pending ;  "  vous  n'avez 
pas  le  droit  d'en  parler  a  cette  heure."  I  then  alleged 
as  a  cause  of  mistrust  and  jealousy  the  impossibility 
of  obtaining  justice,  or  any  kind  of  redress,  for  any 

2x2 


548      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

of  His  Majesty's  subjects.  He  asked  me  in  what 
respect :  and  I  told  him  that  since  the  signing  of  the 
treaty,  not  one  British  claimant  had  been  satisfied, 
although  every  Frenchman  of  that  description  had 
been  so  within  one  month  after  that  period  ;  and 
that  since  I  had  been  here,  and  I  could  say  as  much 
of  my  predecessors,  not  one  satisfactory  answer  had 
been  obtained  to  the  innumerable  representations 
which  we  had  been  under  the  necessity  of  making  in 
favour  of  British  subjects  and  property  detained  in 
the  several  ports  of  France  and  elsewhere,  without 
even  a  shadow  of  justice  :  such  an  order  of  things,  I 
said,  was  not  made  to  inspire  confidence,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  must  create  distrust.  This,  he  said,  must 
be  attributed  to  the  natural  difficulties  attending  such 
suits,  when  both  parties  thought  themselves  right ; 
but  he  denied  that  such  delays  could  proceed  from 
any  disinclination  to  do  what  was  just  and  right. 
With  regard  to  the  pensions  which  were  granted  to 
French  or  Swiss  individuals,  I  observed  that  they 
were  given  as  a  reward  for  past  services  during  the 
war,  and  most  certainly  not  for  present  ones,  and 
still  less  for  such  as  had  been  insinuated,  of  a  nature 
repugnant  to  the  feelings  of  every  individual  in 
England,  and  to  the  universally  acknowledged  loyalty 
and  honour  of  the  British  Government.  That  as  for 
any  participation  of  indemnities,  or  other  accessions 
whirl)  His  Majesty  mjghl  have  obtained,  I  could  take 


LORD    WHIT  WORTH'S  DESPATCH.  549 

upon  myself  to  assure  him,  that  His  Majesty's  am- 
bition led  him  rather  to  preserve  than  to  acquire. 
And  that  with  regard  to  the  most  propitious  moment 
for  renewing  hostilities,  His  Majesty,  whose  sincere 
desire  it  was  to  continue  the  blessings  of  peace  to  his 
subjects,  would  always  consider  such  a  measure  as 
the  greatest  calamity ;  but  that  if  His  Majesty  was 
so  desirous  of  peace,  it  must  not  be  imputed  to  the 
difficulty  of  obtaining  allies ;  and  the  less  so,  as 
those  means  which  it  might  be  necessary  to  afford 
such  allies,  for  perhaps  inadequate  services,  would 
all  be  concentrated  in  England,  and  give  a  propor- 
tionate increase  of  energy  to  our  own  exertions. 

"  At  this  part  of  the  conversation  he  rose  from  his 
chair,  and  told  me  that  he  should  give  orders  to 
General  Andre'ossy  to  enter  on  the  discussion  of  this 
business  with  your  Lordship ;  but  he  wished  that  I 
should  at  the  same  time  be  made  acquainted  with 
his  motives  and  convinced  of  his  sincerity  rather 
from  himself  than  from  his  Ministers.  He  then, 
after  a  conversation  of  two  hours,  during  the 
greatest  part  of  which  he  talked  incessantly,  con- 
versed for  a  few  moments  on  indifferent  subiects 
in  apparent  good-humour,  and  retired. 

"  Such  was  nearly,  as  I  can  recollect,  the  purport 
of  this  conference. 

"  It  must,  however,  be  observed,  that  he  did  not, 
as    M.    Talleyrand    had    done,    effect    to    attribute 


550      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


Colonel  Sebastiani's  mission  to  commercial  motives 
only,  but  as  one  rendered  necessary,  in  a  military 
point  of  view,  by  the  infraction  by  us  of  the  Treaty 
of  Amiens. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c, 

(Signed)  "  Whit  worth." 

"P.S. — This  conversation  took  place  on  Friday 
last,  and  this  morning  I  saw  M.  de  Talleyrand.  He 
had  been  with  the  First  Consul  after  I  left  him,  and 
lie  assured  me  that  he  had  been  very  well  satisfied 
with  the  frankness  with  which  I  had  made  my 
observations  on  what  fell  from  him.  I  told  him, 
that  without  entering  into  any  farther  detail,  what 
I  had  said  to  the  First  Consul  amounted  to  an 
assurance,  of  what  I  trusted  there  could  be  no  doubt, 
of  the  readiness  of  His  Majesty's  Ministers  to  remove 
all  subjects  of  discussion,  where  that  could  be  done 
without  violating  the  laws  of  the  country,  and  to 
fulfil  strictly  the  engagement  which  they  had  con- 
tracted, in  as  much  as  that  could  be  reconciled  with 
safety  of  the  State.  As  this  applied  to  Malta  and 
Egypt,  he  gave  me  to  understand  that  a  project  was 
in  contemplation,  by  which  the  integrity  of  the 
Turkish  Empire  would  be  so  effectually  secured  as  to 
l"  do  away  with  every  cause  of  doubt  or  uneasiness, 
either  with  regard  to  Egypt  or  any  part  of  the 
Turkish    dominions.      Mr  could   nol    then,  lie  said, 


LORD    WHITWORTWS  DESPATCH.  551 

explain  himself  farther.  Under  these  circumstances 
no  one  can  expect  that  we  should  relinquish  that 
assurance  which  we  have  in  hand,  till  something 
equally  satisfactory  is  proposed  and  adopted. 

(Signed)  "  Whitworth." 

"  The  Eight  Hon.  Lord  Hawkesbury." 
&c.  &c.  &c* 

*  The  translators  have  referred,  for  the  exact  text  of  the 
two  despatches  given  above,  to  the  official  publication  entitled, 
"  Papers  relative  to  the  Dissension  with  France,  presented  by 
His  Majesty's  Command  to  Parliament  in  1803,"  and  printed 
by  K.  G.  Clarke,  Cannon  Eow,  Westminster. 


(     552     ) 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Commencement  of  hostilities — Severe  treatment  of  the  English 
in  France — The  First  Consul's  anger  with  England  is 
shared  by  the  great  Bodies  of  the  State — Disloyal  conduct 
of  the  English  Government  towards  France — French  troops 
enter  the  Kingdom  of  Naples  and  occupy  Hanover — A 
stricter  etiquette  is  established  by  the  First  Consul — A 
Theatrical  representation  at  the  Palace  of  St.  Cloud  is 
followed  by  the  delivery  of  an  Ode  composed  by  M.  de 
Fontanes — Adoption  of  the  first  chapters  of  the  Civil  Code — 
Remarkable  share  taken  by  the  First  Consul  in  the  debates 
on  this  work — His  journey  to  Belgium — Servility  shown 
towards  him  by  the  authorities,  Civil,  Military,  and  Clerical 
— Disgust  felt  by  the  Parisians  at  such  excessive  flattery — 
The  first  Consul's  onward  progress  towards  supremo  power 
— Ho  causes  propositions  to  bo  made  to  Louis  XV1IL,  who 
declines  his  oilers — Dissensions  between  Napoleon  and  his 
brothers — Disagreement  between  France  and  Russia — First 
preparations  for  an  invasion  of  England — M.  de  Fontanes, 
I 'resident  of  the  Legislative;  Body — He-imposition  of  taxes 
Oil  food,  under  tho  name  of  droits-r/'unis. 

Hostilities  followed  quickly  on  the  rupture.  The 
English  began  them.  Scarcely  IkkI  the  ambassadors 
of  the  two  nations  crossed  the  Channel  before  an 
order-in-council  was  issued  authorising  the  pursuit 


HOSTILITIES   COMMENCED.  553 

of  all  French  vessels  and  laying  an  embargo  on 
those  then  lying  in  English  harbours.  English 
frigates  immediately  seized  on  some  merchant  vessels 
in  the  Bay  of  Andierne.*  The  First  Consul  replied 
by  a  violent  measure,  and  one  against  all  the  usages 
of  war.  An  act  of  the  Government!  ordered  the 
arrest  and  imprisonment  of  all  Englishmen  over 
eighteen,  and  under  sixty  years  of  age,  then  in 
France ;  all  subjects  of  the  king  of  England 
between  those  ages  being  considered  as  forming  part 
of  the  English  militia.  This  measure  was  carried 
out  with  the  utmost  rigour,  and  the  English  who 
thus  became  prisoners  of  war  were  deprived  of  their 
liberty  for  more  than  ten  years  ;  they  regained  it 
only  in  1814. 

The  various  documents  relating  to  the  measures  of 
hostility  adopted  by  the  two  G-overments,  were  com- 
municated to  the  Council  of  State  in  the  sitting  of 
the  3rd  Prairial  (May  23).    But  this  was  a  merely 

*  The  orders-in-council  of  which  I  am  now  speaking  are 
dated  May  16,  1803  (26th  Floreal,  year  XL). 

f  I  would  call  attention  to  the  fact  that,  in  the  month  of 
Pluviose  of  this  year,  the  names  of  the  Consuls  cease  to  appear 
in  the  titles  of  the  public  acts  of  the  Government.  From  this 
time  they  were  drawn  up  in  the  name  of  the  Government  of  tlie 
Republic.  Until  then  they  had  been  intituled :  The  Consuls  of 
the  Republic,  which  formula  disappeared  in  all  acts  of  high 
administration  or  of  general  interest.  Nominations  to  places 
continued  to  bear  the  name  of  the  First  Consul.  The  motives 
for  this  change  are  sufficiently  apparent. 


554      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

formal  communication.  The  Goverment  decree  had 
been  passed  on  the  previous  day,  and  was  already 
being  put  into  execution.  Advice  was  neither 
wanted  nor  asked  for.  Moreover,  it  would  not  have 
been  needed;  irritation  had  reached  its  highest 
pitch. 

About  the  First  Consul  nothing  was  talked  of 
but  a  war  of  extermination  and  Revolutionary  mea- 
sures. A  struggle  to  the  death  was  commencing, 
and  even  Bonaparte's  brothers  were  carried  away, 
forsaking  all  moderation,  and  sharing  this  feeling 
of  deepest  resentment.  It  was  the  same  with  the 
highest  bodies  in  the  State.  The  Senate,  the 
Legislative  Body  and  the  Tribunate  vied  with  each 
other  by  the  speeches  of  their  several  members  in 
protestations  of  devotion  and  in  pledges  to  support 
a  war  which  involved  the  national  honour.  The 
three  institutions  afterwards  proceeded  in  a  body  to 
the  First  Consul  and  solemnly  renewed  the  protesta- 
tions they  had  just  made  within  their  own  walls. 
The  English  Goverment  was  accused  of  bad  faith  in 
the  negotiations  and  of  having  falsified  the  papers 
laid  before  Parliament  in  justification  of  the  declara- 
tion of  war.*  No  means  were  neglected  of  inflaming 

*  'I'll,-  French  Government  caused  a  remarkable  article  to 
lie  inserted  in  the  'Moniteur'  el*  Hie  4th  Prairial,  upon  the 
oommunicationa  made  <<>  Parliament  by  the 'English  (!<»vem- 
i.i.  nt .  This  article  quoted  as  an  instance  of  the  highest  pitch 
<.f  impudence  and   even  of  folly,  an  alteration  in  one  of  the 


INCITEMENTS   TO  ANIMOSITY.  555 


and  increasing  animosity,  more  factitious,  it  is  true, 
than  real,  but  which  was  expressed  with  unbridled 
violence.     England  on  her   side   did   not   give    an 


most  important  notes  sent  over  by  Lord  Whitworth,  that  one 
which  bears  date  May  10,  and  in  which  the  entire  paragraph 
relating  to  the  proposed  cession  of  Malta  to  Russia  was  sup- 
pressed.     True   enough,   at   the   first  glance,  the  suppression 
seemed  inexplicable  and  might  lead  to  the  belief,  as  the  article 
in  the  '  Moniteur '  pointed  out,  that  the  intention  of  the  English 
Government   had   been  to  conceal   an  important  part   of  the 
negotiations.      But    this   accusation   lost   all   its  weight  on   a 
careful  examination  of  the  papers  laid  before  Parliament,  and 
afterwards  printed.    They  contained  in  full  Lord  Hawkesbury's 
despatch  to  Lord  Whitworth,  in  which  the  proposition  to  hand 
Malta  over  to  Eussia  was  named,  discussed,  and  rejected  as 
inadmissible,   on   account   of  Russia's  refusal  to  garrison  the 
island.      This   despatch,   dated    May   7,    was   inserted    in   the 
English    parliamentary  papers  as  No.  68,  and  contained  the 
following    phrase :     "  The   French    Government   proposes   that 
His    Majesty  should   yield   Malta   to    a   Eussian,  Austrian,  or 
Prussian    garrison.      If  His   Majesty  were    disposed   to  abate 
his  demand  to  occupy  the  island  temporarily,  the  Emperor  of 
Eussia  would  be  the  only  sovereign,  under  present  conditions, 
to  whom  the  King  would  consent  that  Malta  should  be  ceded. 
But  His  Majesty  is  informed  that  the  Emperor  of  ^Russia  would 
decline  to  garrison  the  island."     This  last  assertion  might  not 
be  correct,  although  in  the  French  documents,  as  I  have  said, 
there  is  nothing  to  prove  that  Eussia  had  formally  consented 
to  occupy  Malta,  and  all  they  contain  is  a  further  promise  of 
mediation  and  of  guarantees   of  peace.      But  it   was  not  the 
less  certain  that  the  English  Government  could  not  be  accused 
of  wishing  to  conceal  from  Parliament  and  from  the  country 
the  offers  of  France  and  the  reasons   of  their  refusal  by  the 
English  Cabinet.     The  accusation   was,  therefore,  illogical  at 
least.     But  it  passed  without  notice  or  remark. 


556      MEMOIBS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

example  of  greater  moderation.  §he  seized  on  ships 
at  sea  before  the  declaration  of  war  could  be  known. 
Abuse  and  defamation  of  France,  and  of  the  family 
of  her  First  Magistrate,  filled  the  columns  of  the 
English  newspapers,  and  not  satisfied  with  declaring 
an  open  war  against  us,  she  waged  a  secret  war  very 
dishonourable  to  the  English  Grovernment.  She 
hired  assassins,  paid  agents  to  promote  agitation, 
fostered  internal  conspiracies,  carried  treachery 
and  revolt  wherever  her  gold  could  reach,  and 
gave  to  the  animosity  which  is  justified  by 
open  war  between  two  rival  nations,  that  odious 
character  of  treason  and  disgraceful  machination 
which  is  dishonouring  to  the  most  legitimate  war- 
fare, and  which  is  reprobated  by  morality  as 
well  as  by  the  Law  of  Nations,  recognised  in 
Europe,  whosoever  may  be  the  enemy  to  be 
encountered. 

The  First  Consul  feeling  himself  more  at  liberty 
since  the  declaration  of  war,  and  holding  everything 
allowable  in  self-defence,  set  about  extending  his 
conquests  on  the  Continent  by  way  of  compensation 
for  the  losses  iuflicted  on  our  navy  and  our  com- 
merce. French  troops  re-entered  the  Kingdom  of 
Naples;  Hanover  was  invaded,  and  barely  five  weeks 
bad  elapsed  from  the  commencement  of  hostilities 
when  all  the  coast  of  Italy  on  the  Mediteranean,  and 
the  ocean  coasts  from    Andaye  to  the  mouth  of  the 


ENERGY  OF  THE  FIRST  CONSUL.  557 

Elbe  were  in  the  bands  of  the  French,  and  closed 
against  the  English. 

While  these  military  operations  were  taking  place 
with  all  the  rapidity  which  characterised  the  First 
Consul's  method  of  carrying  out  the  projects  con- 
ceived by  his  daring  genius,  he  was  preparing  to 
visit  Belgium,  that  he  might  confirm  the  inhabitants 
of  that  wealthy  country  in  their  obedience,  and 
strengthen  their  confidence  in  him  at  the  beginning 
of  a  war  which  was  so  contrary  to  their  interests 
and  so  destructive  to  their  commerce.  But  in  order, 
as  it  were,  to  prepare  the  public  mind  for  the  sub- 
mission and  the  homage  towards  himself  and  his  con- 
sort that  he  intended  to  exact  during  this  journey, 
he  held  himself  more  than  ever  aloof  from  the  other 
Consuls,  and  established  a  more  marked  difference 
between  himself  and  his  colleagues.  The  palace  of 
St.  Cloud  had  now  become  a  punctilious  Court,  and 
access  to  it  was  rendered  almost  impossible  by  a 
rigid  etiquette.  A  theatre  was  erected,  and  the  per- 
formances, given  by  actors  from  Paris,  were  in  all 
things  regulated  by  the  former  ceremonial.  The 
Diplomatic  Body  was  invited  in  State ;  the  First 
Consul  sat  alone  in  a  large  box  on  the  right  of  the 
theatre,  his  aides-de-camp  and  officers  on  duty  stood 
at  the  back.  A  similar  box  on  the  opposite  side 
was  reserved  for  Madame  Bonaparte,  attended  by  her 
ladies-in-waiting.      Others    were    occupied    by    the 


558      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

Consuls,  Ministers,  Ambassadors  and  their  wives. 
Everyone  rose  on  the  entrance  of  the  First  Consul 
and  his  wife,  who  bowed  graciously  to  the  assembly. 
The  performances  were  heard  in  silence,  without 
applause.  I  was  present  at  one,  on  Sunday  the  23rd 
Prairial  (June  12),  and  in  addition  to  the  novelties 
of  etiquette  which  I  have  just  described,  the  per- 
formance was  marked  by  a  curious  circumstance. 

The  play  was  Esther.  After  the  tragedy  the 
curtain  was  lowered ;  the  spectators  were  about  to 
leave  the  theatre,  when  the  curtain  was  again  raised. 
An  actor  made  his  appearance,  with  a  roll  of  paper 
in  his  hand,  and  read  an  ode  composed  by  M.  de 
Fontanes.  Some  boldness  was  required  to  read 
verses  to  ears  in  which  the  enchanting  harmonies  of 
Racine's  verses  were  still  echoing.  But  that  boldness 
was  not  so  offensive  as  the  subject  of  the  poem.  M. 
de  Fontanes'  ode  was  a  bitter  diatribe  against  the 
English,  a  pompous  exaggeration  of  our  successes 
and  their  defeats.  I  was  on  thorns  the  whole  time, 
and,  with  the  great  majority  of  the  audience,  I  con- 
sidered it  contrary  to  all  propriety  that  the  Corps 
Diplomatique  should  have  been  invited  to  listen  to 
abusive  satire  on  a  nation  with  whom  their  respective 
Governments  were  at  peace.  I  afterwards  learned 
that  the  poem  had  been  recited  by  the  express  order 
<>!  Hi''  First  Consul,  who  had  read  it,  and  had  even 
required  the  author,  who  did  it  willingly  enough,  to 


ADMINISTRATIVE  MEASURES.  559 

make  some  alterations,  not  to  soften  the  text,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  to  increase  the  strength  and  point  of 
certain  passages. 

Meanwhile,  amid   the    commotion  caused  in    the 
Government  Councils  by  the  rupture  with  England 
and    the   consequences    it   entailed,    and    amid   the 
revival  of  etiquette  and  the  puerilities  of  ceremonial, 
which  the  First  Consul    combined  with  the  loftiest 
conceptions  of  war  and  policy,  measures  of  adminis- 
tration and  legislation  which  deserved  the  gratitude 
of  the   whole  nation,  were  being  carried  out.     The 
session  of  the  Legislative  Body  had  been  employed 
in  passing  the  first  chapters  of  the  Civil  Code,  and 
the  continuous  attention  given  by  the  First  Consul 
to  the  debates  on  that  admirable  work,  was  an  ad- 
ditional proof  of  the  flexibility  with  which  his  genius 
could  adapt  itself  to  labours  that  demanded  the  appli- 
cation of  faculties  of  the  most  opposite  kind.    The  Code 
will  ensure  him  to  the  end  of  Time  a  distinguished 
place  among   celebrated    law-givers.      Doubtless  he 
received  much  assistance  from  men  experienced  in 
jurisprudence,   but  the  selection    lie  made    of  those 
men,  without  respect  to  political  party,  was  in  itself 
worthy  of  the  highest  praise.     But  besides  this,  he 
carefully  followed  the  debates,  and  frequently  threw 
a  light  on  difficult  questions,  regarding  them  some- 
times from  a  novel  point  of  view,  and  with  sagacity 
that  astonished  his  councillors.     One   day  in   each 


560      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

week,  the  Thursday,  was  devoted  to  these  debates  in 
the  Council  of  State,  and  Bonaparte  was  seldom 
absent  from  the  sitting.  The  Civil  Code  is  an 
exceedingly  remarkable  production,  not  only  because 
it  attains  perfection  as  nearly  as  it  is  possible  for  the 
work  of  a  human  mind  aided  by  experience  and  the 
progress  of  knowledge  to  attain  it,  but  also  because 
the  period  at  which  that  Code  saw  the  light,  com- 
bined all  the  conditions  proper  to  ensure  such  per- 
fection. Former  prejudices  were  destroyed,  new 
ones  did  not  yet  exist.  At  an  earlier  date  the  Civil 
Code  would  have  been  coloured  with  Revolutionary 
ideas ;  later,  when  Bonaparte  entirely  abjured  the 
Revolution  to  return  to  the  antique  Monarchy,  his 
reversion  to  the  past  would  have  introduced  into  the 
composition  traces  of  despotism,  of  feudalism  and  of 
the  nobiliary  principles  revived  by  him,  and  which 
reappear  only  too  plainly  in  the  Penal  Code  and 
the  Code  of  Criminal  Proceedings  which  were  drawn 
up  under  the  Empire.  These  are  unfortunately 
tempered  by  the  necessities  of  the  position  he  had 
taken  up,  of  the  absolute  power  which  he  had 
usurped. 

The  Session  of  the  Legislative  Body  of  year  XL 
bad  been  closed  on  the  8th  Prairial  (28  May),  only 
a  few  days  after  the  adoption  of  the  title  of  the  Civil 
Code  which  treats  of  marriage,  and  after  the  com- 
munications    that   had   ensued    on  the   declaration  of 


A    TRIUMPHAL   PROGRESS.  561 

war.  The  Tribunate  also  had  ceased  to  meet,  and 
all  legislative  discussion  being  thus  suspended,  the 
First  Consul  was  at  liberty  to  leave  Paris. 

He  set  out  on  the  5th  Messidor  (June  24)  for 
Belgium  *  In  the  '  Moniteur  '  of  that  month,  will  be 
found  the  addresses  which  were  presented  to  him, 
and  accounts  of  his  reception  in  the  towns  and  even 
the  villages  through  which  he  passed.  Never  had 
adulation  been  carried  so  far,  and  it  is  worthy  of 
remark,  that  the  flattery  of  bishops  and  other  high 
clergy  surpassed  even  that  of  the  civil  and  military 
authorities.  Almost  equal  homage  was  offered  ro 
Madame  Bonaparte,  and  had  the  First  Consul  in 
making  this  journey  merely  wanted  to  test  the  ser- 
vility of  Frenchmen  and  Belgians,  he  must  have 
been  quite  satisfied.  He  returned  convinced  that  he 
might  venture  on  anything,  and  made  haste  to  act 
on  the  discovery. 

I  took  advantage  of  the  First  Consul's  absence  to 
join  Joseph  Bonaparte,  who,  with  his  wife  and  his 

*  He  passed  one  day  with  his  brother  Joseph,  at  Morfontaine. 
He  was  preceded  by  a  Prefect  of  the  Palace,  who  was  furnished 
with  a  list  of  the  persons  who  were  to  be  invited  to  Morfon- 
taine ;  on  that  list  there  was  not  a  single  friend  of  the  master 
of  the  house.  There  were  two  tables,  and  the  First  Consul 
refused  to  admit  to  his  own  the  ladies  who  had  accompanied 
his  mother  and  his  sister  Madame  Bacciochi  to  Morfontaine  ; 
he  admitted  only  the  ladies  in  attendance  on  Madame  Bonaparte, 
his  wife. 

VOL.    I.  2    0 


562      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

sister-in-law,  Madame  Bernadotte,  was  passing  the 
season  at  Plombieres.  Stanislas  Grirarclin  and 
Freville  were  there  also,  and  we  made  several  ex- 
cursions together  in  the  Vosges,  to  the  Lakes  of 
Gerardmer  and  Longemer,  and  also  to  the  Ballon 
d' Alsace.  The  aspect  of  those  mountains  and  of  the 
smiling  valleys  of  the  Moselle  made  a  much  more 
pleasing  impression  on  me  than  the  mingled  admi- 
ration and  awe  evoked  by  the  wild  majesty  of  the 
Alps  and  the  mountains  of  Corsica. 

I  returned  to  Paris  in  the  early  part  of  Thermidor 
(end  of  July).  The  First  Consul  was  still  absent, 
but  his  return  was  expected  every  day.  Although 
my  absence  had  been  short,  I  perceived  a  considerable 
change  in  public  opinion,  and  that  if  the  homage 
rendered  to  the  First  Consul  during  his  journey  had 
added  to  his  greatness  in  the  countries  through 
which  he  passed,  it  had  produced  quite  a  contrary 
effect  in  Paris.  The  excessive  flattery,  the  almost 
divine  honours  he  had  exacted,  or  at  least  had 
been  willing  to  receive,  had  greatly  alienated  the 
Parisians  from  him,  and  had  inspired  feelings  akin 
to  disgust  in  the  more  sensible  inhabitants  of  the 
capital.  It  was  even  asserted  that  the  Chief  Judge 
had  been  obliged*  to  modify  several  reports  from 

*  Tho  Ministry  of  Polico  had  been  suppressed  in  the  pre- 
•  iiliiijj;  year,  ami  its  business  had  been  added  to  that  of  tho 
Chief  Judge  or  Minister  of  Justice. 


AT  ST.    CLOUD.  563 


police  agents  which  contained  a  too  faithful 
account  of  the  insulting  language  used  in  public 
places,  reports  which,  had  they  reached  the  First 
Consul,  would  have  presented  too  strong  a  contrast 
to  the  acclamations  that  had  delighted  him  at  every 
stage  of  his  journey. 

Bonaparte  arrived  at  St.  Cloud  on  the  24th 
Thermidor  (August  12);  on  the  27th  he  came  to 
Paris  and  received  the  civil  and  military  authorities 
in  great  state.  He  was  overwhelmed  with  speeches 
and  harangues.*  In  the  evening  there  were  illu- 
minations and  a  concert  in  the  gardens  of  the 
Tuileries.  The  First  Consul  appeared  on  the  centre 
balcony  and  was  vociferously  greeted.  There  was 
no  great  crowd,  however,  and  there  was  but  little 
general  excitement  and  no  gaiety. 

At  this  epoch  the  First  Consul  seriously  occupied 
himself  in  the  realisation  of  the  great  projects  he 
had  conceived  long  before,  and  which  seemed  easy 
of  execution  since  his  progress  in  Belgium.  This  is, 
therefore,  a  fitting  place  in  which  to  describe  his 
mode  of  developing  those  plans,  and  the  variations 
which  he  made  in  them.     For  although  the  goal  to 

*  The  Tribunate  had  at  first  resolved  to  go  in  a  body  to 
Daminartin  to  meet  the  First  Consul,  and  to  express  their 
wishes  in  the  following  terms  :  "  The  Tribunate  votes  that  the 
Consular  dignity  shall  be  hereditary  in  the  Bonaparte  family." 
But  the  First  Consul  objected  to  this.  His  motives  will  be 
seen  hereafter. 

2  o  2 


564       MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


be   reached    was   always    that    of   supreme   power, 
accompanied  by  a  style  and  a  title  that  should   place 
him  on  a  level  with  the  other  sovereigns  of  Europe, 
Bonaparte  wavered  long  as  to  the  system  he  should 
adopt,  and  the  title  by  which  he  should  be  designated. 
Although  it  was  generally  believed   that  the  secur- 
ing of  hereditary  power  in  his  family  was  a  part  of 
his  plan,  he  was  at  first  far  from   holding  it  as  a 
principle,  and  he  did  not  resolve  on  adopting  it  until 
he  became  aware  that  on  such  conditions  only  would 
the  Senate  consent  to  invest  him  with  sovereignty. 
Heredity    was    the  soundest   guarantee  which  that 
body   could  obtain   against  the  dangers  of  an  un- 
certain   succession,   by   which    its    own    prosperous 
existence  would    have  been  endangered.      For  the 
details  on  this   subject  which  I  am  about   to  give, 
and  which  I  learned  and  noted  down  almost  daily,  I 
am  indebted  to   Joseph   Bonaparte,    who   kept   me 
informed  of  every  little  circumstance  that  occurred. 
These  details  will  reveal  some  of  the  drawbacks  of 
greatness,  and   the  heavy  price  at  which  it  must  be 
bought.     And  if,  in  my  narrative,  the  hero  and  his 
family  sometimes  appear  in  an  unfavourable  light, 
it  is  because   historical    truth  places  them    in  that 
position.     No  spirit  of  satire  shall  pervade  my  story, 
but  aeither  will  I  seek-  to  disguise  the  truth  respect- 
ing  any    of  tii,.    characters    in    it.     Ambition   may 
perhaps  he    taught    a  useful    lesson  by  my  history  of 


BONAPARTE  AND   LOUIS  XVIII.  565 

past  events  if  it  should  ever  seek  such  a  lesson,  or 
would  be  willing  to  profit  by  it.     Bonaparte's  first 
step  was  an  overture  to  Louis  XYIII.,  made  at  the 
beginning  of  1803.     Either  the  First  Consul,  shortly 
after  the  battle  of  Marengo,  in   October   1800,  had 
really  received  a  letter  from  that  Prince,   as  Joseph 
Bonaparte    assured   me    at  the   time,   and  that  its 
contents  had  led  him  to  hope  for  success  in  the  pro- 
posal he  was  now  about  to  make ;  or  he  was  led  to 
take  this  step  on  account  of  the  advantage  he  would 
have  derived  from  a  renunciation  of  the  throne  of 
France,  which,  by  rallying  all  the  Royalists  round 
him,  would  smooth  his  own  way  to  it.    At  all  events, 
it  is  certain  that  in  the  month  of  Pluviose,  year  XI. 
(February  1803),  he   had   a  proposal  conveyed   to 
Louis  XYIII.,  who  was  then  residing  at  Warsaw, 
that  he  should  renounce  his  rights  to  the  crown  and 
require  a  like  renunciation  from  the  members  of  his 
family.*      On    these    conditions   the    King    was    to 
receive  a  pension  of  two  millions  (francs)   a  year. 
The  proposition  was  rejected  by  Louis  XYIII.,  and 
his  reply,  dated  February  26,  1803,  is  as  noble  as  it 
is  firm.      It  was  published  in  all  the  English  news- 

*  It  was  believed  at  the  time,  in  Paris,  that  this  proposition 
had  been  made  through  the  medium  of  Prussia,  and  that  con- 
jecture was  correct.  It  will  be  seen  hereafter  how  the  First 
Consul  represented  this  step,  in  his  speech  to  the  Council  of 
State  on  the  3rd  Germinal,  year  XII.  (March  24,  1804),  on  the 
occasion  of  the  death  of  the  Due  d'Enghien. 


566      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


papers,    accompanied   by  the    adhesion    of    all   the 
princes  of  the  House  of  Bourbon  then  living.* 

This  negotiation,  which,  had  it  succeeded,  would 
have  given  a  certain  colour  of  legality  to  Bona- 
parte's ascent  of  the  Throne,  having  failed  through 
resistance  as  generous  as  it  was  unexpected,  he 
withdrew  into  himself,  and  relied  only  on  his  own 
genius  and  lucky  audacity  for  the  acomplishment 
of  his  designs.  But  what  is  to  be  the  form  of  the 
new  monarchy  that  he  intends  to  found  ?  Joseph 
Bonaparte  spoke  on  this  subject  to  G-irardin, 
Fre'ville  and  me,  during  our  stay  at  Plombieres  in 
the  following  terms  : — 

"  To  reiirn  alone  and  to  assume  a  title  which  shall 
harmonise  with  those  borne  by  the  heads  of 
European  States  is  with  my  brother  a  fixed  idea. 
His  letter  to  the  pretender,  his  whole  conduct,  the 
honours  which  he  had  paid  to  him,  those  he  exacts 
for  his  wife,  are  the  results  of  calculation,  and 
intended  to  familiarise  public  opinion  with,  and 
prepare  it  for,  the  great  change  that  is  impending. 
He  believes  that  his  best  course  is  to  obtain,  from 
the  docility  and  weakness  of  a  populace  that  in  his 
heart  he  despises  for  its  servility,  all  that  a  sovereign 
can  exact,  before  he  assumes  a  sovereign's  title ;  for 
lie  is  convinced  that  when  «>nce  the  reality  of  power 
is  obtained,  the  step  which  will  confer  a  denomina- 
•   See  the  'Morning  Chroniole'  of  July  2.r>,  L803. 


THE  FIRST  CONSUL'S  DESIGNS.  567 

tion  of  that  power  is  easy.  He  has  hesitated  long 
between  the  titles  of  King  and  Emperor,  but  has  at 
last  decided  on  the  latter.  In  the  public  opinion  of 
Europe  generally,  the  idea  of  a  King  implies  a 
power,  modified  to  a  certain  extent  by  an  aristocracy, 
an  intermediate  caste,  and  an  order  of  succession 
which  compensates  by  its  security  and  stability  for  the 
disadvantages  of  arbitrary  power.  He  who  bears  the 
name  of  King  is  himself  fettered,  he  is  restrained  by 
customs  which  he  cannot  always  bend  to  his  caprice ; 
and  an  established  system  of  heredity,  by  naming 
the  successor  beforehand,  rallies  malcontents  round 
the  heir-apparent  and  gives  rise  to  hopes  which  are 
independent  of  the  actual  ruler. 

"  Such  a  system  does  not  suit  my  brother.  He 
intends  that,  with  the  exception  of  himself,  all  shall 
be  equal ;  that  his  head  only  shall  rise  above  the 
level  at  which  all  others  without  distinction  shall 
remain ;  that  no  intermediate  body  shall  interfere 
with  his  authority ;  that  the  peace  and  repose  con- 
ferred on  the  nation  shall  be  so  exclusively  his  work 
that  the  imagination  can  conceive  nothing  but 
trouble  and  confusion  on  looking  beyond  him ;  that 
uncertainty  as  to  his  successor  will  embarrass  con- 
tending parties;  and  lastly,  that  the  power  of  appoint- 
ing or  changing  that  successor  will  be  a  powerful 
means  of  encouraging  the  hopes  of  the  ambitious,  and 
of    attaching   to  himself  all   those    whose    fame  or 


568      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MEL1T0. 

whose  influence  on  public  opinion  might  render 
them  dangerous  enemies,  by  the  hope  of  so  great  an 
inheritance  which  he  will  dangle  before  their  eyes. 

"  The  title  of  Emperor  and  the  ideas  formerly 
associated  with  that  title,  and  which  he  intends  to 
revive,  suit  those  views.  No  heredity,  no  reigning 
family,  no  intermediate  caste !  No  obstacles  during 
his  life  to  be  offered  by  the  ambition  of  military 
leaders ;  because,  being  their  master  in  the  art  of  war, 
he  has  no  dread  of  their  renown,  which  is  surpassed 
by  his  own,  and  because  he  leaves  them  the  hope  of 
obtaining  after  his  death  the  position  he  has  created 
and  occupies.  No  resistance  from  the  State  Bodies  of 
which  he  is  even  now  head,  according  to  the  present 
order  of  things  !  No  apparent  changes  in  that  order  ; 
the  Senate  is  to  remain.  Presided  over  by  himself, 
and  the  submissive  instrument  of  his  will,  that  body 
will  be  responsible  for  the  phantom  of  National  Repre- 
sentation that  may  still  be  suffered  to  exist.  Lastly, 
even  the  word  Republic  may  survive.  The  vain 
semblance  of  that  form  of  Government  will  still 
console  those  who  go  straying  about  trying  to 
realise  the  dream  of  it  in  the  midst  of  a  frivolous 
and  corrupt  people,  ruined  by  seductive  theories." 

These  intentions  of  the  First  Consul,  and  especially 
liis  aversion  to  a  hereditary  system,  which  would 
have  associated  his  family  with  his  own  greatness, 
were  deeply  displeasing  to  his  brothers,  and  were  the 


LAPLACE.  569 


origin  of  the  dissension  and  enmity  that  shortly 
afterwards  broke  out  among  them.  The  First 
Consul  wished  to  make  one  of  them  Chancellor  of 
the  Senate,  an  office  instituted  by  the  Senatus- 
Consultum  of  the  14th  Nivose  of  that  year.  But 
both  Joseph  and  Lucien,  to  each  of  whom  the  post 
was  offered,  obstinately  refused  it.  They  regarded 
the  offer  as  merely  a  method  of  eluding  promises 
that  had  been  made  to  them,  and  of  removing  them 
from  the  supreme  rank,  by  appointing  them  to 
functions,  which  mere  Senators  without  any 
pretensions  to  such  rank  could  as  easily  fulfil. 
Bonaparte's  brothers  conceived  that  by  accepting 
they  would  have  thrown  in  their  lot  with  the  crowd 
from  which  it  was  their  ambition  to  separate  them- 
selves. On  their  refusal,  the  celebrated  geometrician 
Laplace  was  appointed,  and  performed  the  duties 
of  his  post  with  a  blind  submission  which  never 
failed,  until  fortune  turned  against  his  benefactor ; 
then  he  found  an  opportunity  of  placing  his  officious 
suppleness  at  the  service  of  the  Bourbons. 

When  Joseph  Bonaparte  informed  me  that  he  had 
been  offered  the  Chancellorship  of  the  Senate,  and 
that  he  was  determined  to  decline  it,  I  tried  in  vain 
to  induce  him  to  accept  a  position  which  was  to  my 
thinking  by  no  means  derogatory.  But  I  could 
not  overcome  his  resistance,  which  was  encouraged 
by    his  brother   Lucien  with   every  argument  that 


570      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


his  fertile  mind  and  his  own  inflexibility  of  purpose 
could  suggest.  My  attempts  to  soothe  his  extreme 
indignation  failed  utterly.  "He  shall  deceive  me 
no  longer,"  he  exclaimed;  "  I  am  sick  of  his  tyranny, 
of  his  vain  promises,  so  often  repeated  and  never 
fulfilled.  I  will  have  all  or  nothing ;  let  him  leave 
me  in  my  privacy,  or  offer  me  a  position  which  will 
secure  power  to  me  when  he  is  gone  !  In  that  case 
I  would  bind  myself,  I  would  pledge  myself.  But  if 
he  refuses  this,  let  him  expect  nothing  from  me ! 
Is  not  the  fatal  power  that  he  exercises  over 
France,  over  Europe,  which  his  insatiable  ambition 
has  disturbed,  enough  for  him,  without  his  drap/p-ino; 
me  after  him  as  his  slave,  proposed  first  to  the 
respect,  and  then  to  the  scorn  of  his  generals,*  who, 
taking  no  orders  but  from  him,  will  either  trample 
me  under  foot,  or  bear  my  train,  according  to  their 
master's  orders  ?  What  has  he  done  for  us  as  yet  ? 
What  powers  has  he  conferred  on  us  ?  A  prefect  in 
my  Department  sets  me  at  nought,  and  I  have  not 
the  slightest  influence  in  the  district  where  I  am  a 
landowner.  But  I  am  a  man,  and  I  intend  him  to 
discover  that  there  are  some  who  dare  to  refuse 
submission    to   his   caprices.      Let   him   once   more 

*  The  "leaders"  of  tho  Senate,  instituted  by  the  Senatus- 
( 'oiisult him  l.cl'uiv  mentioned,  were  to  be  chosen  from  anion"- 
the  Generals,  and  took  precedence  over  the  two  great  officers, 
the  Chancellor  and  the  Treasun  r. 


CONFIDENTIAL   REVELATIONS.  571 

drench  Europe  with  blood  in  a  war  that  he  could 
have  avoided,  and  which,  hut  for  the  outrageous 
mission  on  which  he  sent  his  Sebastiani,  would 
never  have  occurred  !  As  for  me,  I  shall  join  Sie'yes, 
even  Moreau,  if  need  be — in  short,  every  patriot 
or  lover  of  liberty  who  is  left  in  France — to  escape 
from  such  tyranny  !  " 

These  words,  uttered  with  deep  emotion,  revealed 
all  the  agitation  of  his  soul.  I  discerned  in  them 
vehement  indignation,  excusable,  no  doubt,  but 
strongly  tinctured  by  an  excessive  ambition  which 
he  disguised  perhaps  even  from  himself,  although  he 
could  not  endure  the  idea  that  it  was  always  to 
be  disappointed. 

This  ebullition  of  passion  was  followed  by  confi- 
dential revelations.  He  told  me  that,  wishing  to 
induce  his  brother  to  adopt  the  hereditary  principle, 
he  had  pressed  him  to  put  away  his  wife  and  to  marry 
again,  and  that  he  had  recapitulated  the  various 
arguments  in  favour  of  this  proceeding  which  had 
been  discussed  in  our  former  conversations.  Then 
he  added  these  remarkable  words  :  "  You  hesitate  ?  ' 
said  I,  to  the  First  Consul ;  "  well,  what  will  be  the 
consequence  ?  Why,  that  should  any  natural  cause 
bring  about  the  death  of  your  wife,  you  will  pass 
for  her  poisoner  in  the  eyes  of  France,  in  those  of 
Europe,  and  in  mine,  who  know  you  well !  Who  is 
there   that  will  believe  that  you  have  not  done  what 


572      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

it  was  so  clearly  your  interest  to  do  ?  It  is  better 
to  forestall  these  disgraceful  suspicions.  You  are 
not  really  married ;  you  have  never  consented  to 
have  your  union  with  this  woman  consecrated  by 
the  Church.  Leave  her  for  political  reasons,  and  do 
not  let  it  be  believed  that  you  have  got  rid  of  her 
by  a  crime." 

"  I  saw  my  brother  turn  pale,"  continued  Joseph, 
"at  this,  and  he  answered  me  in  these  words:  'You 
make  me  conceive  that  which  I  should  never  have 
thought  of,  the  possibility  of  a  divorce.  But  towards 
whom,  in  such  a  case,  should  I  turn  my  thoughts  ? ' 
'  Towards  a  German  Princess,'  I  replied,  '  or  the 
sister  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  Only  take  this 
step,  and  you  change  your  own  position  at  once,  and 
ours,  without  our  even  having  to  wait  for  the  birth 
of  a  child.  x\U  is  settled  by  that  alone,  the  family 
system  is  established,  and  we  are  all  on  your  side.' " 
This  advice,  which  was  partly  acted  on  afterwards, 
•  lid  not  suit  the  private  purposes  then  entertained 
by  the  First  Consul.  It  was  indeed  natural  that  he 
should  reject  it  so  long  as  he  continued  averse  to  the 
hereditary  system,  and  in  addition  to  the  motives  I 
have  already  set  forth,  his  objections  were  supported 
by  his  wife  and  the  other  Consuls,  who  were 
naturally  and  strongly  opposed  to  a  scheme  of  the 
kind.  It  must  be  admitted  besides  that  the  circum- 
stances of  the   Bonaparte  family  were  by  no  means 


THE  FAMILY  "SITUATION."  573 

favourable  to  the  establishment  of   the   hereditary 
principle.     Its  chief  was  united  to  a  woman  who 
could   not   bear    him   a    child ;    his   eldest   brother 
Joseph  had  no  son,  and  Lucien  had  just  married  * 
Madame  Jouberthon,  the  divorced  wife  of  a  Paris 
stockbroker,  by  whom  he   had  had  a  child  in   the 
previous   year.      He    had    therefore    bestowed    the 
name  of  Bonaparte  on   a  woman  whose  beauty  and 
wit  were  indeed  remarkable,  but  whose  reputation 
was  not  spotless  in  the  eyes  of  the  First  Consul. 
Jerome,  the  youngest  of  the  brothers,  had  married 
while  in  America,  and  before  attaining  his  majority, 
a  Miss  Patterson,  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  richest 
citizens  of  Baltimore,  and  belonging  to  a  respectable 
family  in  the   United  States,  but  the  lady  was,  in 
the   estimation  of  the  First  Consul,  far  below  the 
rank   to    which    he    afterwards    raised   his    young 
brother.     Louis  alone  had  contracted  a  union  with 
the   approval    of    his    brother   Napoleon ;    he    had 
married    Hortense    Beauharnais,    the   daughter    of 
Madame  Bonaparte,  and   she  had  borne  him  a  son, 
for  whom  the  First  Consul  displayed  so   special  an 
affection,  that  it  gave  rise  to   the  most  scandalous 
reports.     After    the    unfortunate  expedition   to  St. 

*  In  the  beginning  of  Brumaire,  year  XII.  (end  of  October, 
1803).  Lucien  was  a  widower,  he  had  two  daughters  by  his 
first  wife. 


:>74       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  M10T  BE  MEIITO. 

Domingo,*  his  widow,  Pauline  Bonaparte,  had 
married  Prince  Borghese,f  and  this  was  the  only- 
side  on  which  the  Bonapartes  were  connected  with 
the  great  families  of  Europe.  But  that  alliance, 
although  illustrious,  was  not  available  in  the  sense  of 
the  establishment  of  heredity. 

Lucien's  marriage  had  thrown  the  whole  family 
into  consternation,  and  Joseph  himself  looked  upon 
it  as  a  serious  personal  calamity.  How,  indeed,  would 
it  be  possible  to  confer  rights  over  France  on  this 
son  of  Lucien,  to  claim  for  him  her  homage,  to  set 
him  on  the  Throne,  perhaps  on  some  future  day, 
when  he  was  only  made  legitimate  by  the  tardy 
marriage  of  his  parents  ?  "  Destiny  ! '!  exclaimed 
Joseph,  "  Destiny  seems  to  blind  us,  and  intends,  by 
means  of  our  own  faults,  to  restore  France  some  day 
to  her  former  rulers."  J 

The  First  Consul,  who  was  furiously  indignant  at 
Lucien's  conduct,  was  at  first  for  using  harsh 
measures    against    him   and  his  newly  made  wife. 

*  It  completely  failed,  and  the  reverse  was  attributed  chiefly 
to  the  incapacity  of  General  Leclerc,  who  was  in  command. 

t  The  marriage  was  celebrated  privately  at  Morfontaine,  in 
the  beginning  of  Vcndemiaire,  year  XII.  (end  of  September, 
180:'.).  NiinisluK,  (iirardin,  and  myself  were  witnesses  at  the 
legal  ceremony. 

\  These  prophetic  words  were  spoken  to  me  at  Morfontaine 
on  the  .Mh  r.rnmaire,  year  XII.  (Oct.  28,  1803).  I  wrote  them 
down  on  the  same  day. 


LUCIEN  BONAPABTE.  575 

But  the  uncertainty  of  success,  the  fear  of  the 
scandal  that  would  be  caused  by  law  proceedings  to 
break  the  marriage,  or  by  an  arbitrary  arrest,  and 
lastly,  the  attitude  taken  by  Lucien,  who  seemed 
disposed  to  defend  himself  publicly,  made  the  First 
Consul  relinquish  an  idea  conceived  in  the  heat  of 
passion,  and  induced  him  to  resort  to  a  negotiation 
which  Joseph  undertook.  It  was  agreed  that  the 
latter  should  endeavour  to  persuade  Lucien  to  write 
a  letter  to  his  brother,  in  which  he  would  pledge 
himself  not  to  allow  his  wife  to  bear  his  name,  not 
to  introduce  her  to  the  family,  and  to  wait  for  the 
legal  publicity  of  his  marriage,  until  time  and  cir- 
cumstances should  permit ;  this,  he  was  also  to 
pledge  himself,  should  never  take  place  without  the 
authorization  of  the  First  Consul.  On  the  other 
hand  Bonaparte  would  consent  to  receive  his  brother 
Lucien  as  if  nothing  extraordinary  had  occurred, 
would,  after  the  interview,  invite  him  to  a  play  at 
St.  Cloud,  and,  moreover,  would  consent  to  Lucien's 
wife  residing  with  her  husband. 

Furnished  with  these  instructions,  Joseph  com- 
menced his  negotiations,  and  succeeded  in  obtaining 
the  letter  exacted  by  the  First  Consul.  But  either 
that  letter  did  not  come  up  to  his  expectations,  or 
satisfied  with  having  it  in  his  possession,  Bonaparte 
no  longer  cared  to  keep  his  promises,  for  it  is  certain 
that  none  of  the  conditions  to  which  he  had  bound 


57G       MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

himself  were  fulfilled,  and  the  negotiator,  indignant 
at  this  breach  of  faith,  long  and  deeply  resented  it. 
Lucien  took  advantage  of  Joseph's  anger  to  get  him 
to  visit  his  new  sister-in-law,  and  his  example  was 
followed  by  some  other  members  of  the  family.  The 
First  Consul  could  not  forgive  Joseph  for  so  acting, 
and  an  open  quarrel  ensued  between  them  which 
lasted  a  considerable  time.  Lucien  resolved  on 
leaving  France,  and  set  out  for  Italy  on  the  13th 
Frimaire  (Dec.  5).  On  the  eve  of  his  departure,  he 
wrote  a  note  to  Joseph,  which  I  have  read.  It  was 
in  the  following  terms.  "  I  am  going  to  Florence, 
Eome  and  Naples.  I  have  written  to  Mechin,*  to 
have  Bernadotte  presented  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Senate. f  Do  nothing  during  my  absence  towards 
reconciling  me  with  the  First  Consul.  I  depart 
hating  him.  I  leave  a  courier  at  your  service,  in 
Paris,  whom  you  may  despatch  to  me,  if  anything 
occurs."  'J: 

Thus  had  discord    in   the    family-circle    separated 

*  The  Prefect  of  the  Department  of  the  Landes. 

t  Nothing  con  hi  be  more  distasteful  to  the  First  Consul  than 
this  nomination.  ITe  had  at  that  time  a  great  dislike  to 
Bernadotte;  next  to  Moreau  he  was  the  General  whom  he 
most  dreaded.  Lucien  Bonaparte,  however,  did  not  start 
immediately,  as  he  had  said.  He  remained  in  the  neighbour- 
hood  of  Paris,  and  only  sit  out  for  Italy  in  April  lsOt,  when 
he  had  been  definitively  excluded  from  tho  Imperial  succession. 
Lucien  ami  Napoleon  did  not  meet  again  until  1815,  after 
the  Emperor's  return  from  Elba. 


ILL-TIMED  PRODIGALITY.  577 


its  members,  and  those  domestic  dissensions  which, 
could  not  escape  the  watchful  eyes  of  lookers-on, 
increased  the  alienation  of  public  feeling  that  had 
already  been  shocked  by  such  arbitrary  acts  as 
the  banishment  of  Madame  de  Stael  from  France,* 
and  the  dismissal  without  trial  of  two  assistants  of 
the  Mayor  of  Granville,  announced  in  the  '  Moniteur ' 
of  the  15th  Yende'miaire,  year  XII.,  with  the  addition 
of  the  most  insulting  imputations.  Lastly  some  very 
ill-timed  acts  of  prodigality,  among  which  were  a 
marriage-portion  of  two  millions  bestowed  on  Princess 
Borghese,  and  a  magnificent  residence  in  the  Fau- 
bourg St.  Glermain  given  to  Eugene  de  Beauharnais, 
awoke  universal  envy  and  dissatisfaction.  To  these 
hostile  sentiments,  whose  expression  was  restrained 

*  Madame  de  Stael  had  returned  to  France  towards  the  end 
of  September  1803.  She  was  at  once  refused  permission  to 
live  in  Paris,  and  she  took  up  her  residence  in  a  country-house 
near  the  capital.  Shortly  afterwards  she  received  an  order 
to  leave  France.  The  First  Consul  himself  gave  this  order 
in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Chief  Judge,  somewhat  in  the 
following  terms :  "  I  hear  that  Madame  de  Stael  is  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Paris.  You  will  see  that  she  receives  an 
order  to  leave  France  within  four-and-twenty  hours,  and  you 
will  take  the  necessary  steps  for  the  prompt  execution  of  that 
order.  To  be  accomplished  without  exposure."  (The  word 
exposure  was  scratched  out,  and  noise  substituted  for  it.) 
Matthieu  de  Montmorency,  who  displayed  under  these  cir- 
cumstances a  truly  courageous  friendship  for  Madame  de  Stael, 
appealed  to  Joseph  Bonaparte  to  endeavour  to  obtain  a  revoca- 
tion of  the  order  from  his  brother.  Joseph  was  readjT  and 
willing,  and  tried  his  best,  but  without  success. 

VOL.  I.  2    P 


578       MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 


with  difficulty  by  the  vigilant  and  effective  police, 
was  added  great  uneasiness  caused  by  the  misunder- 
standing between  France  and  the  Northern  Powers 
with  which  year  XII.  began.  Russia  in  particular 
appeared  ill-disposed.  She  announced  her  intention 
of  supporting  Portugal,  which  was  at  that  time 
threatened  by  us.  The  First  Consul  was  enraged  at 
this  interference,  which  had  interrupted  the  negotia- 
tions, until  then  kept  alive  by  a  faint  hope  of  pacifi- 
cation. At  the  first  diplomatic  audience  of  year  XII. , 
Sunday,  2nd  Vende'miaire  (Sept.  25),  he  was  very 
rude  to  M.  Markoff,  and  a  fortnight  later  he  omitted 
to  invite  him  to  the  play  at  St.  Cloud,  at  which 
the  other  ambassadors  were  present.*  M.  Markoff, 
however,  being  anxious  to  avoid  a  complete  rupture, 
looked  about  for  some  means  of  conciliation,  and  ex- 
pressed to  me  his  great  wish  to  be  placed  in  com- 
munication with  Joseph  Bonaparte.  He  complained 
bitterly  of  Talleyrand,  who,  he  said,  had  injured  him 
in  the  estimation  of  the  First  Consul,  and  who, 
having  speculated  on  war,  wanted  to  interrupt  the 
mediation  of  Russia,  by  preventing  the  renewal  of 
negotiations  which  might  end  successfully.  "  It 
cannot  be  to  Russia's  interest,"  he  said,  "  to  let  the 
question  between  France  and  England  be  decided  in 

*  The  other   members  of   the  Russian    Embassy,  and   the 

Russians  of  note  then  in  Paris,  were  invited,  but  one  and  all 

declined    the   invitation;  all    made  common    cause   with   the 
ambassador. 


A  NEGOTIATION.  579 


favour  of  either  of  those  Powers.  In  either  hypo- 
thesis there  will  be  danger  for  her ;  on  the  one  side 
of  a  naval  despotism,  on  the  other  of  a  continental 
despotism.  Russia's  real  interest  is  to  bring  about 
peace.  Nor  does  she  wish  to  impose  very  hard  con- 
ditions. I  am  convinced  that  all  can  be  arranged  on 
the  very  basis  of  the  last  propositions  made  by  the 
First  Consul.*  But  I  am  unable  to  negotiate  ;  every 
path  is  closed  to  me  ;  every  means  of  communication 
between  me  and  the  Russian  Ambassador  in  London 
has  been  stopped,  though  it  is  indispensable  that  we 
should  act  in  concert.  I  do  not,  however,  aspire  to 
conclude  so  important  a  negotiation,  I  only  wish  to 
renew  it,  and  I  think  I  might  succeed  if  I  could 
meet  Joseph  Bonaparte."  I  willingly  undertook  to 
contrive  an  interview  ;  and  it  took  place,  but  availed 
nothing.  Russia's  distrust  was  increased  by  the 
information  of  a  projected  alliance,  offensive  and 
defensive,  between  France  and  Prussia,  that  was 
being  secretly  negotiated  in  Paris,  and  every  hope 
that  the  struggle  with  England  would  be  terminated 
by  Russia's  mediation  vanished. 

Neither  these  political  difficulties,  however,  nor 
the  obstacles  thrown  in  his  way  by  the  dissensions 

*  These  propositions  were  made  with  the  object  of  placing 
Malta  in  the  hands  of  Eussia,  and  of  accepting  the  mediation  of 
that  Power  between  England  and  France. 

2  p  2 


580      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  3IELITO. 

that  had  broken  out  in  his  family,  could  arrest  the 
progress  of  the  First  Consul.  At  the  same  time 
that  he  attached  the  Senate  to  his  own  interests 
by  the  distribution  of  the  new  Senatorships,  and  that 
he  flattered  the  national  vanity  by  the  distribution 
of  various  grades  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  in  which 
he  included  all  men  of  mark,  whether  civil  or  military, 
with  equal  skill  and  judgment,  and  all  those  who 
had  distinguished  themselves  in  Science  or  Art,  he 
was  making  astonishingly  active  preparations  for 
a  descent  on  England.  An  enormous  number  of 
flat-bottomed  boats,  rafts,  gun-boats  and  vessels  of 
all  kinds  came  forth,  as  if  by  magic,  from  a  thousand 
dockyards.  Basins  were  hollowed  out  to  receive 
this  fleet,  wooden  forts  were  erected  to  defend  it. 
Formidable  batteries  defended  the  Channel  coast- 
line and  forbade  even  an  attempt  from  the  enemy. 
Boulogne-sur-Mer  was  the  centre  of  all  these  opera- 
tions. In  the  early  part  of  year  XII.,  the  First 
Consul  visited  the  town  several  times,  and  his 
presence  inspired  the  soldiers  and  the  workmen  with 
increased  zeal.  Yet  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  ever 
seriously  intended  to  attempt  this  great  enterprise. 
He  was  too  good  a  judge  in  matters  of  the  kind  not 
to  have  recognised  how  small  were  the  chances  of 
success,  ;nnl  in  any  case  1  do  not  believe  that  he 
ever  Intended  to  undertake  the  invasion  in  person, 


THE  INVASION.  581 


to   risk   bis    fortune   and   his   life    on   so    slight   a 

probability  of  victory.*     But  the  imagination  of  the 

people  required  food,  and  beyond  this,  a  pretext  was 

needed  for  assembling  an  immense  army  at  a  short 

distance  from  the  capital,  so  that,  being  surrounded 

by  these  devoted  forces,  he  might,  if  necessary,  be 

borne  by  them  to  the  Throne.     It  was  also  well  to 

remove     his    formidable    armies    from   the    eastern 

frontiers  of  France,  and  to   crowd  them  along  the 

coast  from  Ostend  to  the   mouth  of  the  Somme,  so 

that  Austria,  emboldened  by  their  departure,  might 

attempt  to  repair  her  losses  and  to  avenge  the  insults 

she  had  recently  endured,  by  a  sudden  aggression, 

in  which  victory  would  seem  certain  to  her.     Thus 

war,  the    object    of  all    the    First    Consul's    desires 

■ — war,  which  only  could  save  him  from  the  critical 

position  in  which  he  stood — would  again  break  out 

on  the  Continent. 

The    sequel    has    sufficiently    demonstrated    the 

wisdom   of  these   various   combinations ;    but   they 

escaped  the  notice    at  the   time   of  even  the  most 

*  Towards  the  end  of  Brumaire,  on  returning  from  one  of 
his  visits  to  Boulogne,  Bonaparte  had  a  conversation  with 
Joseph  on  the  subject  of  Lucien's  marriage,  in  which  he  used 
the  following  remarkable  words  :  "  You  think  you  are  necessary 
while  I  am  absent  ?  Well,  what  does  it  matter  to  me  ?  I  will 
not  go  to  England,  I  shall  send  Ney.  Besides,  there  is  another 
resource;  I  will  only  make  an  expedition  to  Ireland;  thus 
I  reduce  it  all  to  an  ordinary  war  ;  I  will  give  back  Ireland 
in  return  for  Malta,  and  make  peace." 


582      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

astute  statesmen.  Time  alone  has  thrown  light  on 
them.  At  the  period  of  which  I  am  speaking,  no 
one  doubted  that  the  expedition  would  take  place. 
Whenever  the  First  Consul  left  Paris,  universal 
anxiety  prevailed  ;  every  moment  we  expected  to 
hear  that  the  flotilla  had  sailed,  and  when,  for  the 
first  time,  cannon  announced  Bonaparte's  return,  it 
was  believed  that  the  salute  was  fired  in  honour  of 
our  first  successes  at  sea. 

Preparations  for  the  expedition,  the  movement  of 
troops,  and  the  coast-defences  did  not  so  entirely 
engross  the  attention  of  the  First  Consul  as  to  make 
him  neglect  internal  administration.  His  astonishing 
activity  sufficed  for  all  things.  By  a  Senatus- 
Consultum  of  the  28th  Frimaire  (December  20,  1803) 
the  usual  form  of  opening  the  sessions  of  the 
Legislative  Body  was  changed.  For  the  future,  the 
First  Consul  was  to  perform  that  duty,  with  a 
ceremonial  imitated  from  that  with  which  the 
English  Parliament  is  opened,  and  to  appoint  the 
President  of  the  Legislative  Body  from  among  a 
certain  number  of  candidates.  This  was  one  more 
step  towards  monarchical  forms.  He,  however, 
ad  journed  the  alteration  of  the  ceremonial  until  the 
following  year ;  the  opening  took  place  on  the  15th 
Nivose,  year  XII.  (January  6,  1801)  without  any 
novel  formalities.  But  he  hastened  to  exercise  his 
right  of  appointing  the  President.      Bis  choice  fell 


FONTANES.  583 


on  Fontanes,  and  he  certainly  could  not  have  chosen 
better  in  his  own  interests.  Never  did  a  man 
realise  more  completely  the  expectations  formed 
respecting  him.  The  imperturbable  admirer  of  all 
that  Bonaparte  did  or  wished  to  do ;  so  long  as  that 
extraordinary  man  wielded  the  sceptre,  he  placed 
the  Body  over  which  he  presided,  and  the  nation  in 
whose  name  he  frequently  spoke,  at  the  feet  "of  an 
absolute  master,  whom  he  promptly  deserted  when 
fortune  abandoned  him.  The  appointment  of 
Fontanes  met,  however,  with  general  disapproval. 
Even  the  partisans  of  the  Government  were 
alarmed  ;  they  perceived  with  regret  the  accessi- 
bility of  the  First  Consul  to  servility  and  flattery ; 
they  regarded  the  appointment  as  a  reward  for  the 
ode  that  had  been  recited  at  St.  Cloud,  and  whose 
violent  declamations  against  England  were  all  the 
more  offensive  as  it  was  generally  known  that,  after 
the  18th  Fructidor,  Fontanes  had  taken  money  and 
favours  from  that  country,  which  had  afforded  him 
a  secure  refuge  and  generous  protection. 

The  Government  being  assured,  by  the  new  system 
of  the  Senatus-Consultum,  of  the  subservience  of 
the  Legislative  Body,  and  no  longer  fearing  even  a 
shadow  of  opposition,  obtained  without  difficulty  the 
financial  laws  for  the  augmentation  of  the  revenues 
of  the  State  which  the  war  on  which  he  had  entered 
rendered  necessary.     In  the  sitting  of  the  Council 


584      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  MELITO. 

of  State  on  the  7th  Nivose,  which  preceded  by  a  few 
days  only  the  session  of  the  Legislative  Body,  the 
First  Consul  presided,  made  a  statement  respecting 
the  financial  situation  of  France,  and  prepared  the 
minds  of  his  hearers  with  surpassing  skill  for  the 
necessity  of  further  taxation.  The  arguments  he 
used  for  the  re-establishment  of  indirect  taxation, 
which"  had  been  abolished  ever  since  the  beginning 
of  the  Revolution,  were  as  follows  : — 

"  The  needs  of  the  State  for  the  current  year,"  said 
the  First  Consul,  "  will  amount  to  seven  hundred 
millions,  and  to  meet  them  we  have  but  five 
hundred  and  twenty-six  millions,  viz., 


Direct  Taxation 

295  millions 

Registration 

180 

Customs 

.         .         .            25         „ 

Post-office  . 

11 

Lottery 

•         •         •            12         „ 

Salt-pans    . 

3 

Total 


526 


"  We  must,  besides,  deduct  from  our  estimated 
receipts  the  sums  that  are  not  actually  recovered, 
and  those  we  lose  every  year  through  the  bank- 
ruptcy of  Receivers-General.  These  cannot  be 
estimated  at  less  than  four  millions.  We  can  barely 
reckon,  therefore,  on  a  receipt  of  five  hundred 
millions.  Thus,  it  becomes  necessary  to  provide 
in  oilier  ways  for  whal  is  wauling;  no1  with  a  view 


FINANCE.  585 


to  reach  the  seven  hundred  millions  that  are  necessary 
to  us  on  account  of  the  war,  hut  to  bring  up  the 
receipts  of  the  Republic  to  six  hundred  or  six  hundred 
and  fifty  millions.  It  will  never  be  able  to  hold  the 
rank  which  its  position  and  the  extent  of  its  territory 
assign  to  it  in  Europe  without  such  a  revenue. 

"  In  order  to  obtain  this,  we  must  establish  a  system 
of  finance,  and  create  beforehand  a  system  which, 
like  the  excise  in  England,  will  enable  us  to  raise 
indirect  taxes,  and  to  establish,  as  the  need  arises, 
new  branches  of  revenue. 

"  If  I  consulted  my  own'  popularity  only,  I  should 
not  speak  of  fresh  taxation  just  now.  You  shall 
see  that,  owing  to  the  extraordinary  resources 
procured  for  us  by  our  influence  in  Europe,  I  could 
perfectly  well  dispense  with  it  for  this  year,  perhaps 
even  for  year  XIIL,  and  reckoning,  with  some 
reason,  on  the  i^robability  of  success  in  the  war  in 
which  we  are  engaged,  I  might  take  the  credit  to 
myself  of  carrying  on  that  war  without  imposing 
any  extra  tax.  But  we  must  think  of  the  future, 
we  must  not  place  the  Republic  under  the  necessity 
of  having  recourse,  at  the  first  reverse  to  our  arms, 
to  bad  financial  measures,  such  as  forced  loans,  war 
taxes,  or  additional  centimes  on  the  land-tax,  which 
is  already  burdensome  to  agriculture. 

"  Thus,  the  plan  presented  to  you  by  the  Minister 
of  Finance  comprises  not  only  a  provision  for  the 


58G      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


needs  of  the  present  year,  but  further,  a  scheme  for 
the  collection  of  several  branches  of  indirect  taxes, 
such  as  a  new  tax  on  all  kinds  of  drink,  an  in- 
creased productiveness  on  tobacco,  and  other  taxes." 
After  hearing  this  address,  the  Council  of  State 
decided  on  the  bases  of  a  law  which  established  a  new 
system  of  taxation  on  provisions,  under  the  name 
of  Customs.*  It  was  adopted  by  the  Legislative 
Body  on  the  5th  Ventose,  year  XII.  (February  25, 
1804),  and  is  in  full  vigour  at  the  present  day, 
although  the  Government  which  succeeded  that  of 
Napoleon,  in  order  to  keep  a  foolish  promise  of 
abolishing  that  kind  of  taxation,  changed  its  name 
to  that  of  "  indirect  contributions."  A  clever  inven- 
tion in  finance  is  always  sure  to  prosper. 

*  Droits-reunis. 


(     587     ) 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Reconciliation  between  Napoleon  and  Joseph  Bonaparte — Real, 
Councillor  of  State,  is  entrusted  with  the  Superintendence  of 
Police — Establishment  of  General  Commissioners  of  Police 
in  the  principal  towns  of  France — Debate  on  this  subject  in 
the  Council  of  State — Plot  against  the  First  Consul's  life  by 
Georges,  Cadoudal,  and  Pichegru — Complicity  of  Moreau — 
Details  of  the  examination  of  the  accused— The  Chief 
Judge's  report  on  the  facts  of  the  case  is  communicated  to 
the  Chief  Bodies  of  the  State — Their  replies — Examination 
of  Moreau's  papers  by  Regnault  de  Saint  Jean-d'Angely  and 
the  Author — State  of  the  contributions  levied  by  Moreau  in 
Germany — Plan  and  intentions  of  the  principal  conspirators 
— Royalist  character  of  the  plot — Pichegru  and  Cadoudal 
are  arrested — The  discoveries  made  by  the  Police  respecting 
this  conspiracy  compromise  indirectly  a  great  number  of 
persons — Cares  and  troubles  of  the  First  Consul— The  Due 
d'Enghien  is  seized  at  the  Chateau  d'Ettenheim  in  Baden 
by  a  detachment  of  French  troops — The  Prince  is  brought 
before  a  military  commission  at  Vincennes,  is  condemned 
to  death,  and  shot — Consternation  in  Paris — Bonaparte's 
speech  to  the  Council  of  State  concerning  this  event — Ball 
given  by  Talleyrand  three  days  after  the  death  of  the 
Due  d'Enghien. 

Everything  seemed  to  succeed  with  the  First 
Consul;  everything,  except  the  enmity  of  his 
enemies,  seemed  to  yield  before  him.     In  despair  of 


588       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


defeating  him  on  the  field  of  battle,  they  once  more 
resorted  to  the  weapons  they  had  formerly  employed. 
Conspiracies  against  his  life  were  formed  and  sub- 
sidized in  England.  On  learning  the  risks  daily 
incurred  by  his  brother,  Joseph  Bonaparte's  affec- 
tionate nature  drew  him  towards  the  First  Consul. 
The  good  understanding  that  had  been  broken  off 
by  family  differences  was  restored,  and  if  it  was  not 
entirely  proof  against  some  fresh  shocks  that  came 
to  disturb  it,  yet,  for  the  time  at  least,  the  need  of 
sympathy  and  of  giving  vent  to  feeling,  had  renewed 
the  old  confidence  on  both  sides. 

In  the  course  of  a  conversation  which  took  place 
after  their  reconciliation,  and  which  lasted  late  into 
night  of  the  30th  Nivose  (January  21),  the  First- 
Consul  had  freely  disclosed  his  troubles.  He  made 
bitter  complaints  that  in  his  family  he  met  with 
neither  support  nor  assistance  ;  and  especially  blamed 
his  brothers,  who  took  delight  in  criticising  his 
conduct,  in  condemning  him  when  he  affected  mo- 
narchical forms,  and  who,  far  from  seconding  any  of 
his  projects,  made  it  their  business,  as  it  were,  to 
run  counter  to  them  all. 

"  Nor,"  added  he,  "  do  I  find  more  sincerity 
anywhere  about  me;  I  live  in  a  state  of  continual 
distrust  :  each  day  brings  forth  a  fresh  plot  against 
my  life  ;  each  day  I  receive  more  and  more  alarming 
reporl  .     The  partisans  of  the  Bourbons,  as  well  as 


SOME  PENALTIES  OF  AMBITION.  589 

the  Jacobins,  aim  at  me  only,  and  as  both  parties 
know  perfectly  well  that  their  only  chance  is  in  my 
destruction,  they  are  at  any  rate  agreed  on  that  one 
point.  For  a  time  I  thought  I  had  nothing  to  fear 
from  the  adherents  of  Louis  XVIII.,  but  I  have  now 
good  reasons  for  believing  that  they  too  are  con- 
spiring against  me.  However,  I  have  made  up  my 
mind,  I  shall  try  a  descent  on  England.  Victory 
would  enable  me  to  carry  out  anything  I  wished  ; 
while  if,  on  the  contrary,  I  should  fall,  it  matters 
little  to  me  what  happens  afterwards ! ' 

The  conversation  continued  long  in  this  melancholy 
key,  and  when  it  was  repeated  to  me  on  the  following 
day,  I  could  but  acknowledge  that  the  alarm  of  the 
First  Consul  was  justified.  He  was  so  great  an 
obstacle  to  the  hopes  which  had  been  revived  by  the 
renewal  of  war ;  he  had  done  so  little  to  place  his 
family,  his  partisans,  or  even  the  nation,  in  a  position 
to  defend  themselves  when  he  should  be  gone  ;  and  he 
had  made  himself  so  much  feared  and  so  little  loved, 
that  among  these  numerous  elements  of  enmity, 
ambition  and  political  combinations,  the  springing- 
up  of  dangerous  conspiracies  was  inevitable. 

It  followed,  therefore,  that  the  need  of  an  active 
and  watchful  police  was  urgent.  The  First  Consul, 
however,  would  not  re-establish  an  odious  Ministry 
that  he  himself  had  suppressed  two  years  before. 
But    he    substituted    for    it   a    Councillor    of    State 


590      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


specially  charged  with  the  direction  of  the  Police, 
and  Real,  to  whom  those  functions  were  entrusted, 
contributed  greatly  by  his  activity  and  penetration 
to  ward  off  the  dangers  that  threatened  the  life  of 
Bonaparte  and  the  tranquillity  of  the  State.  The 
appointment  of  Commissaries-General  of  Police  in 
the  principal  towns  of  France  dates  from  this  period, 
and  the  latter  measure  became  the  subject  of  a 
remarkable  debate  which  took  place  in  the  Council 
of  State  on  the  18th  Pluviose.  While  admitting  the 
inconvenience  of  having  to  appeal  to  the  Legislative 
Body  every  time  that  it  became  necessary  to  appoint 
a  Commissary-General  in  any  town,  the  majority  of 
the  Councillors  of  State  were  of  opinion  that  it  was 
indispensable  to  obtain  a  general  law  from  the 
Legislative  Body  authorising  the  Government  to 
appoint  those  officials  according  to  the  wants  of  the 
administration.  I  was  strongly  in  favour  of  this 
opinion,  as  were  also  the  whole  section  of  the 
Interior  of  which  I  was  a  member.  But  the  First 
Consul  refuted  it  in  the  following  terms  :— 

"  We  are  no  longer,"  said  he,  "  in  the  period  when 
the  Legislative  Body  could  be  considered  as  repre- 
senting the  sovereign,  and  almost  as  the  sovereign 
himself.  That  was  the  assumption  acted  on  by  1  lie 
Constituent  Assembly,  and  every  one  knows  what 
lnisl'ovl lines  followed  on  that  system,  the  confusion 
of  power  and  authority  thai  resulted  from  it,  and  the 


BONAPABTE'S  ABGU3IENT.  591 

abyss  into  which  France  was  thereby  plunged.  Let 
us  return  to  wiser  principles !  a  Legislative  Body  is, 
from  its  nature  and  composition,  unfitted  to  deal  with 
the  administration  and  to  enter  into  its  details.  It 
cannot  either  know  or  judge  of  its  requirements ; 
publicity  of  debate  would  deprive  administra- 
tive measures  of  both  the  secrecy  and  the  force  of 
opinion  which  should  attend  them,  and  which  alone 
can  ensure  their  success.  Only  generalities  should 
therefore  be  submitted  to  the  Legislative  Body,  and 
these  should  be  restricted  to  purely  speculative 
subjects,  such  as  the  laws  of  the  Civil  Code,  and  of 
Procedure,  with  the  addition  however  of  those 
concerning  Taxation,  which  should  always  be 
approved  by  it. 

"  By  adhering  to  this  system,  it  is  evident  that 
the  resistance  of  the  Legislative  Body,  either  to 
consent  to  taxation,  or  to  adopt  important  measures 
on  which  public  opinion  may  have  pronounced, 
would  have  such  results  that  the  Government 
would  be  obliged  either  to  have  recourse  to  the 
Senate  to  dissolve  the  Legislative  Body,  or  to 
change  its  Ministers  and  its  Council,  on  perceiving 
itself  to  have  been  led  astray  or  carried  too  far 
by  them.  These  are  great  and  inevitable  crises  of 
which  everybody  can  perceive  the  advantages  and 
the  dangers,  and  in  which  the  nation  is  always  in 
a  condition  to  judge  between  the  two  parties. 


592       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

"  But  to  give  to  the  Legislative  Body  the  power  of 
arresting  the  operation  of  the  Government  in  details 
— and  such  would  be  the  infallible  result  of  obliging 
the  latter  to  have  recourse  to  it  for  those  details — is 
to  place  the  Government  in  the  cruel  alternative  of 
either  permitting  itself  to  be  impeded  at  every  step, 
and  thus  to  concur  in  its  own  gradual  destruction,  or 
to  have  recourse  to  violent  measures  not  sufficiently 
justified  by  the  importance  of  the  matter,  and  which 
would  ruin  it  in  public  estimation  and  favour. 

"  This  being  premised,  I  understand  that,  if  the 
Legislative  Body  refuses  a  law  of  the  Civil  Code,  or 
one  concerning  the  general  interests  of  Society  on 
which  opinion  may  be  divided,  we  must  yield  and 
consider  ourselves  beaten  without  making  any 
objection.  The  refusal,  therefore,  of  a  tax  would 
alone  oblige  us  to  make  use  of  the  means  of  dissolu- 
tion, because  every  one  knows  that  such  a  refusal  is  a 
declaration  of  war  against  the  Government,  which  in 
that  case  must  defend  its  existence. 

"  But,  in  the  special  case  which  we  are  considering, 
let  us  suppose  that  the  Legislative  Body  refuses  the 
particular  or  general  law  that  we  should  propose  to 
it;  upon  this  matter,  in  the  first  place,  we  should 
have  made  it  the  judge  of  the  utility  of  the  measure, 
and,  as  it  cannot  be  a  good  judge,  in  the  absence  of 
all  information  and  of  all  light  by  which  to  guide 
itself  in  forming  an  opinion,  a  grave  inconvenience 


BONAPARTE'S  ARGUMENT.  593 

at  once  arises ;  one  all  the  more  grave  because 
the  Legislative  Body  is  never  responsible  for  its 
opinion.  In  the  next  place,  it  would  have  placed 
us  in  the  alternative  of  which  I  have  already  spoken, 
by  forcing  us  either  to  renounce  a  police  measure 
which  we  feel  to  be  necessary,  or  to  take  the  extreme 
step  of  dissolving  the  Legislative  Body,  a  step  which 
should  be  reserved  for  extraordinary  circumstances, 
and  which  in  this  case  would  not  be  recognised  as 
needful. 

"  The  Section  of  the  Interior  and  Citizen  Miot 
have  therefore  misapprehended  the  question  in  assert- 
ing as  a  principle  that  we  must  ask  for  a  law.  It 
is  doing  no  service  to  the  Legislative  Body  to  call 
upon  it  to  discuss  and  decide  questions  on  which  it 
can,  in  reality,  have  no  opinion.  This  was  all  very 
well,  when  it  invaded  all  the  provinces  of  authority 
and  regarded  itself  as  sovereign.  Such  foolish 
theories  have  now  passed  away.  The  Government, 
the  Senate  and  the  Council  of  State  represent  the 
nation  equally  with  the  Legislative  Body.  We  must 
follow  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  not  the  letter, 
and  that  Constitution,  of  which  I  have  been  one  of 
the  principal  architects,  never  intended  to  confer  on 
a  deliberative  assembly,  essentially  foreign  to  the 
administration,  an  influence  on  the  direction  of  affairs 
which  it  has  expressly,  for  the  sake  of  the  peace  and 
stability  of  Europe,  reserved  to  the  Government." 

vol.  i.  2  Q 


594      MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

After  so  decided  a  declaration,  there  was  an  end 
to  discussion.  The  project  of  law  was  abandoned, 
and  Commissaries-General  were  appointed  by  mere 
acts  of  the  Government  in  some  of  the  large  towns, 
such  as  Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  Lyons,  Nantes,  &c. 

Meanwhile,  the  Paris  police,  directed  by  Real, 
were  on  the  track  of  conspiracies  formed  in  England 
against  the  life  of  the  First  Consul.  They  had 
arrested  an  individual  named  Querelle,  and  this 
man's  revelations  had  led.  them  step  by  step  to  the 
discovery  of  the  person  who  had  given  shelter  to 
the  famous  Georges  Cadoudal,  who  was  known  to  be 
iu  Paris.  This  person,  an  inhabitant  of  St.  Leu- 
Taverny,  in  the  valley  of  Montmorency,  was 
arrested.  But  Georges  had  escaped.  At  the  same 
time,  thirteen  men  coming  from  England,  and  who 
were  deceived  by  the  use  of  signals,  which  Querelle, 
or  another  accomplice,  named  Picot,  had  made 
known  to  the  police,  landed  on  the  coast  near  St. 
Yalery,  and  were  seized  on  the  spot.  In  a  short 
time,  the  prime  movers  in  this  vast  conspiracy  were 
reached,  and  the  chief  leaders,  among  whom  were 
men  hitherto  totally  unsuspected  of  a  share  in  it, 
were  discovered. 

On  the  25th  Plnviose  (February  15)  an  extra- 
ordinary sitting  of  the  Council  of  State  was  con- 
voked. The  Ministers  were  present.  The  First 
Consul   presided,  and  after  he  had    briefly  set  forth 


THE   CADOUDAL    CONSPIRACY.  595 

the  leading  features  of  the  plot,  he  proceeded  in 
these  words  : 

"It  is  with  great  pain  that  I  have  now  to  tell  you 
that  some  illustrious  names  are  concerned  in  this 
conspiracy.  That  Pichegru,  already  accused  and 
convicted  of  treason  to  his  country,  should  have 
consented  once  more  to  serve  our  enemies,  does  not 
surprise  me.  But  that  General  Moreau  should  have 
joined  him,  that  they  should  have  abjured  their 
former  enmity,  to  attack  me  in  concert  and  over- 
turn the  Government,  is  what  I  could  never  have 
supposed,  and  have  only  come  to  believe  after  a 
long  investigation.  Unfortunately  there  is  no  longer 
room  for  doubting  this  complicity  ;  Pichegru  has 
been  in  Paris  for  some  days  past.  His  purpose  in 
coming  was  to  guide  the  assassins,  to  rally  the 
malcontents  together,  and  to  prepare  a  disturbance, 
and  Moreau  has  seen  him,  has  had  several  inter- 
views with  him.  I  know,  in  particular,  that  they 
met  on  Monday  last  (February  13)  on  the  Boulevard, 
near  the  Madeleine.  A  man  named  Lajolais,  whose 
wife  was  for  a  long  time  Pichegru's  mistress,  and  at 
whose  house  in  Paris  he  lodged,  acted  as  a  go- 
between  for  the  two  Generals,  and  arranged  their 
interviews.  I  have  had  Moreau  arrested.  Lajolais 
and  some  other  persons  implicated  are  also  in 
custody.     Pichegru  is  followed. 

"  The  Government  lias  not  acted  on   suspicion  or 

2  Q  2 


596       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

vague  alarms.  Both  writings  and  avowals  are  in 
our  hands.  The  whole  procedure  will  be  conducted 
by  the  Tribunals,  and  everybody  will  be  enabled  to 
convince  himself  of  the  reality  of  the  plot,  and  of 
the  complicity  of  the  persons  I  have  named. 

"  All  this  is  the  work  of  England.  I  am  aston- 
ished, however,  that  England  has  been  able  to  bribe 
such  men.  Because,  after  all,  is  not  Pichegru  the 
conqueror  of  Holland  ?  Is  not  Moreau  renowned  for 
his  victories  ?  Was  it  not  Dumouriez  who  first 
conquered  Belgium  ?  Is  it  not  inexplicable  that 
they  could  sacrifice  so  much  glory  to  the  passions  of 
a  party,  which,  if  it  ever  gets  the  mastery,  will  but 
tarnish  that  glory,  and  bring  to  shame  those  who 
have  gained  it  ? 

"  I  have  summoned  the  Council  of  State  and  the 
Ministers,  to  explain  to  them  the  causes  of  an 
event  which  is  sure  to  make  a  great  sensation, 
and  to  give  them  the  means  of  informing  public 
opinion,  and  of  preventing  it  from  going  astray,  or 
beyond  the  reality. 

"  Things  are  not  yet  sufficiently  advanced  for  me 
to  make  them  the  matter  of  a  message  to  the  dif- 
ferent State  bodies.  Before  making  the  affair  more 
public,  we  must  wail  until  the  course  of  procedure 
shall  have  discovered  further  facts,  which  will 
remove  all  possibility  of  doubt  from  even  the  most 
ill-disposed  minds." 


THE   CADOUDAL   CONSPIRACY.  597 

No  one  having  spoken  after  this  communi- 
cation, the  First  Consul  brought  the  sitting  to  a 
close. 

The  Councillors  of  State  followed  him  to  his 
Cabinet,  to  congratulate  him  on  having  escaped  a 
fresh  danger,  and  when  the  conversation  afterwards 
)ecame  less  restrained,  he  informed  us  of  several 
remarkable  circumstances.  One  of  the  men  who 
had  been  arrested,  after  making  some  important 
disclosures,  had  hanged  himself.  Another,  named 
Bouvet,  one  of  those  principally  accused,  had  tried 
to  strangle  himself  with  his  sheets,  and  as  most 
important  information  was  expected  from  him,  it 
had  been  found  necessary  to  promise  him  a  pardon, 
and  to  send  the  Chief  Judge  to  him  to  confirm  it,  so 
as  to  restore  him  to  himself,  and  calm  his  excitement. 
General  Moreau  had  been  arrested  on  the  high  road, 
as  he  -  was  returning  from  his  country-house  at 
Grosbois,  by  an  officer  of  the  Gendarmerie,  who 
entered  his  carriage  and  drove  with  him  to  the 
Temple. 

On  the  next  day,  the  26th  Pluviose,  at  the  sitting 
of  the  Council  of  State,  the  First  Consul,  who  was 
presiding,  ordered  Real  to  read  to  us  the  result  ol 
the  examinations  of  the  principal  persons  accused  of 
the  conspiracy.  I  shall  dwell  in  this  place  only 
on  the  depositions  of  Bouvet  and  Lajolais,  which 
refer  to  Generals  Pichegru  and  Moreau,  and  which 


598       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


are  still  interesting,  since  they  may  guide  our  judg- 
ment of  these  two  celebrated  men. 

Bouvet,  whom  I  mentioned  before,  was  Adjutant- 
General  in  the  Royalist  army  of  La  Vendee.  He 
had  come  from  England  and  landed  on  the  French 
coast  with  Pichegru  and  Cadoudal,  with  the  sole 
purpose  of  supporting  the  cause  of  the  Bourbons. 
But  he  had  speedily  discovered  that  he  was  being 
tricked  by  Pichegru,  who  was  working  for  himself 
and  for  Moreau,  whom  he  meant  to  place  at  the 
head  of  the  State  with  the  title  of  Dictator. 

Lajolais'  information  was  more  precise.     The  first 
part  of  his  examination,   in  which  he  declared  lie 
had  never  left  France,  was,   however,  a   tissue   of 
falsehood.     But  on  being  more  closely  pressed,  and 
perceiving  that  the  truth  was  already  known,  in  the 
second  part  of  his  examination  he  confessed  every- 
thing ;  he  had  been  in  England  and  had  returned  to 
France  with  Pichegru  in  the  preceding  January,  and, 
together  with  another  person  named  David,*  he  had 
acted  as  go-between  for  Moreau  and  Pichegru.     The 
latter  had  at  first  lodged  at  Chaillot  and  afterwards 
in  Paris,  where  he  had  three  interviews  with  Moreau. 
The  last  had  taken  place  on  the  Boulevard  between 
the    Madeleine    and    the    Rue    Caumartin.     Moreau 

This  David  had  been  arrested  Inwards  the  end  of  Brumairc, 
year  XII.,  al  ( lalais,  <>n  his  return  from  England,  and  removed, 
in  Primaire,  to  the  Temple,  in  Paris. 


THE   CADOUDAL   CONSPIRACY.  599 

had  promised  to  come  to  the  appointed  place  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  He  came  wrapped  in  a  long 
coat,  wearing  a  round  hat.  Lajolais  recognised  him, 
and  went  to  apprise  Pichegru,  who,  with  Cadoudal, 
was  waiting  in  a  hackney  carriage  at  the  end  of  the 
Rue  Basse-du-Rempart.  Lajolais  brought  Pichegru 
;o  Moreau,  and  they  walked  together  along  that  part 
of  the  Boulevard  which  is  situated  between  the  Rue 
Neuve-des-Capucines  and  the  Rue  Louis-le-Grrand, 
which  was  out  of  the  space  brightly  illuminated 
by  the  moonlight.  Lajolais  discreetly  withdrew. 
He  did  not  assert  that  Cadoudal  was  a  party  to 
this  interview. 

The  Chief  Judge,  accompanied  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Council  of  State,  had  interrogated  Moreau  on  the 
preceding  evening.  His  answers,  which  were  read 
to  us,  consisted  merely  of  denials.*  He  denied  that 
he  had  seen  Pichegru,  and  even  that  he  knew  he 
was  in  Paris.  This  system,  which  the  General 
himself  gave  up  shortly  afterwards,  seemed  ignoble 
and  unworthy  of  him.* 

Two  days  later,  the  Chief  Judge's  report  containing 
the  statement  of  the  facts  I  have  just  related,  was 
communicated  to  the  Senate,  the  Legislative  Body 
and  the  Tribunate. 

*  He  afterwards  relinquished  this  system  of  denial,  and  on 
the  17th  of  the  following  Ventose  he  wrote  to  the  First  Consul, 
acknowledging  himself  guilty  of  some  acts  of  imprudence. 


600      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


I  was  present  with  the  Legislative  Body  on  the 
27th  Pluviose  (February  17)  when  the  report  was 
read,  but  it  was  difficult  to  judge  what  impression  it 
produced ;  every  one  was  on  his  guard.  The  reply 
of  the  President  was  well  written,  but  full  of  affected 
warmth.  The  orator  spoke  of  Charlemagne,  and 
compared  the  Founder  with  the  Restorer  of  the 
French  Empire.  When  the  Councillors  of  State 
who  had  been  the  bearers  of  the  Message  from  the 
Government  had  withdrawn,  the  Assembly  formed 
itself  into  a  general  Committee.  Several  orators, 
Vaublanc,  Ramon,  Coupe  and  others,  spoke  with 
approval  of  the  measures  taken  by  the  Government. 
On  a  motion  made  by  them,  it  was  agreed  that  a 
deputation  should  be  sent  to  the  First  Consul. 

On  the  same  Message  being  read  to  the  Tribunate, 
General  Moreau's  brother,  who  was  a  member  of 
that  body,  rushed  into  the  Tribune  and  made  a  fiery, 
but  incoherent  speech.  He  accused  the  Chief 
Judge's  report  of  being  calumnious  and  untrue,  and 
still  more  General  Murat's  *  order  of  the  day,  which 
had  been  promulgated  the  day  before.  He  strongly 
nsserted  Moreau's    innocence,  proudly  recalled   the 

*  General  Murat  had  boon  made  Commandant  of  Paris  on 
the  L'lili  L'luviose.  Tho  order  of  the  day  referred  to  above  is 
very  insulting  to  Moreau.  It  was  not  published  in  the 
•Moniteur,'  but  may  be  found  in  the  4  Publicists '  of  the  27th 
Pluvid  ■■  i. 


THE  CADOUDAL   CONSPIRACY.  601 

victories  of  a  hero  so  unjustly  attacked,  and  ended 
by  demanding  judges  and  a  public  trial  for  his 
brother.  Some  sensation  was  produced  by  this 
speech.  Cure'e,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Tribunate, 
replied  to  his  colleague,  and  lauded  the  extreme 
feeling  he  had  displayed.  Treilhard,  a  Councillor 
of  State,  one  of  the  Government  orators,  ascended 
the  Tribune  a  second  time,  and  promised  that  the 
proper  judges  for  General  Moreau  should  be 
entrusted  with  this  important  trial.* 

On  the  next  day,  the  28th  Pluviose,  the  Council  of 
State  was  summoned  to  the  First  Consul's  Cabinet, 
to  be  present  at  the  reception  of  the  deputations 
from  the  Senate,  the  Legislative  Body  and  the 
Tribunate.  The  discourses  of  the  Senate  and  the 
Legislative  Body,  pronounced  by  Berthollet,  Vice- 
President  of  the  Senate,  and  Fontanes,  President  of 
the  Legislative  Body,  consisted  chiefly  of  platitudes. 
The  First  Consul  responded  in  similar  terms;  but, 
for  the  first  time,  he  read  his  replies.  Hitherto 
on  these  occasions  he  had  always  spoken  extempore. 

The  address  of  the  Tribunate  contained  a  sort  of 
apology  to  General  Moreau.  Not  only  did  it  throw 
doubt  on  his  guilt,  but  it  did  not  even  refer  to  him  as 
accused,  but  made  use  merely  of  the  word  '  denuncia- 
tion.'    This  speech  deeply  offended  the  First  Consul, 

*  The   above    is    reported    briefly   aud    incorrectly   in    the 
'  Moniteur '  of  the  28th  Pluviose. 


G02       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

and  he  allowed  his  feelings  to  appear  in  his  reply, 
which  he  pronounced  extempore.  "  The  greatness 
of  Moreau's  former  services,"  he  exclaimed,  "  is  not 
a  sufficient  motive  for  removing  him  from  the  control 
of  the  law.  There  can  he  no  Government,  if  a 
man,  by  reason  of  his  past  services,  is  to  he  held 
to  be  above  the  laws,  which  should  apply  to  him 
as  to  the  merest  private  citizen.  What !  Moreau 
is  already  regarded  as  guilty  by  the  first  Bodies 
in  the  State,  and  you  do  not  even  treat  him  as 
accused !  " 

On  concluding  his  reply,  he  abruptly  dismissed 
the  deputation  from  the  Tribunate,  and  when  it  had 
retired,  he  continued  to  converse  for  some  time  with 
us.  He  was  greatly  disturbed  ;  his  agitation  and 
displeasure  were  evident. 

In  the  '  Moniteur '  of  the  succeeding  day,  which 
contains  an  account  of  these  deputations,  the  address 
from  the  Tribunate  was  entirely  altered.  Every- 
thing that  had  offended  the  First  Consul  was  sup- 
pressed, and  Moreau's  name  did  not  even  appear. 
The  article  added  that  the  First  Consul  had  replied 
to  the  Tribunate  in  almost  the  same  terms  as  to  the 
Senate  and  Legislative  Body,  which,  as  I  have  just 
shown,  was  far  from  the  truth. 

Meanwhile  the  investigations  of  the  police  threw 
fresh  li,L;lil  daily  on  the  conspiracy  in  which  Moreau 
was  implicated,  and  left  no  doubt,  if  not  of  his  guilt. 


THE   CADOUDAL   CONSPIRACY.  603 

at  least  of  the  fact  of  his  recent  intercourse  with 
Pichegru,  and  his  approval  of  the  projects  formed  for 
the  overthrow  of  the  Consular  Government.  At  the 
time  of  the  General's  arrest,  the  papers  found  in  his 
house  were  handed  over  to  Regnault  de  Saint  Jean- 
d'Angely,  who  requested  that  I  might  be  associated 
with  him  in  the  task  of  examining  them.  We  there- 
fore undertook  this  labour  jointly,  but  I  could  dis- 
cover nothing  in  any  of  the  documents  which  were 
examined  by  me  that  had  any  reference  to  the  con- 
spiracy under  investigation.  I  found  some  satires 
and  a  few  epigrams  on  Bonaparte  and  his  family  in 
various  letters  addressed  to  Moreau  by  sundry  dis- 
satisfied Generals,  but  they  were  not  worthy  of 
attention,  and  I  said  nothing  about  them.  One  docu- 
ment was  remarkable  enough,  but  as  it  had  no  con- 
cern with  the  matter  before  us,  I  let  it  also  pass  in 
silence.  This  was  an  account  of  the  contributions 
raised  in  Germany  during  the  years  VIII.  and  IX. 
They  had  amounted  to  forty-four  million  francs. 
Of  this  sum,  nine  millions  had  not  been  recovered, 
and  various  other  sums  were  also  missing.  In  short, 
the  net  receipts  from  these  contributions  amounted 
to  twenty-four  millions  paid  over  to  the  Paymaster 
General,  and  eight  millions  paid  over  for  Moreau's 
private  use,  and  of  which  he  had  given  no  account. 
Of  the  latter  sum,  a  certain  portion,  estimated  at 
half,    had    been    spent   on    secret   or   extraordinary 


604      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


service,  and  distributed  as  rewards  to  the  Generals 
and  other  officers  of  the  army.  The  surplus  had 
apparently  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Commander- 
in-Chief. 

I  was  soon  relieved  from  this  painful  duty. 
Shortly  after  Regnault  and  I  had  commenced  the 
investigation,  the  papers  were  all  handed  over  to 
General  Savary  by  order  of  the  First  Consul,  and 
I  heard  no  more  of  them. 

But  I  had  been  made  acquainted  by  this 
occurrence  with  some  of  the  reports  made  by  the 
police,  and  had  an  opportunity  of  forming  an 
opinion  on  the  whole  matter,  and  on  Moreau's 
share  in  it. 

To  begin  with,  I  became  convinced  that  the  plot 
against  the  First  Consul's  life  had  really  existed  ; 
that  it  had  been  hatched  by  partisans  of  the  Bour- 
bons, suborned  by  England,  although  no  Englishman 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  it.  In  the  next  place,  it 
became  equality  clear  to  me  that  the  authors  of  the 
conspiracy  would  not  be  satisfied  with  striking  at 
Bonaparte,  unless  they  were  provided  with  a  man 
to  put  in  his  place,  to  occupy  the  interval  that  must 
necessarily  exist  between  the  fall  of  Bonaparte  and 
the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons.  It  was  evident  that, 
after  striking  so  great  a  blow,  to  leave  the  result  to 
chance  would  be  to  run  the  risk  of  allowing  their 
greatest  enemies  to  reap  all  its  fruits.     On  the  death 


TEE  CADOUDAL   CONSPIRACY.  605 

of  Bonaparte,  a  member  of  his  own  family  might 
succeed  him ;  a  new  convention  might  be  formed  ; 
the  Republican  party  might  resume  the  ascendant ; 
the  army  pronounce  in  their  favour,  and  thus  the 
Bourbons  be  permanently,  or  at  least  for  a  long 
time,  put  aside.  The  Royalists  therefore  required 
a  man  who,  when  Bonaparte  was  no  more,  would 
easily  obtain  the  suffrages  both  of  the  army  and  of 
the  nation,  whom  the  Senate  could  openly  select, 
and  whose  appointment  would  be  approved  by 
public  opinion.  At  the  same  time  this  man  must  be 
one  who  would  hold  out  greater  hopes  to  the  Bour- 
bons than  Bonaparte,  for  he  had  realised  none  of  the 
expectations  that  he  had  for  a  moment  allowed  them 
to  entertain.  Moreau,  on  account  of  his  enmity 
to  Bonaparte,  the  spell  of  his  victories,  the  weakness 
of  his  character  and  the  laxity  of  his  principles,  was 
the  very  man  that  was  wanted.  Thence  the  impera- 
tive necessity  for  making  sure  of  him.  Pichegru, 
already  in  communication  with  him  through  the 
intrigues  of  David  and  Lajolais  (for  he  would 
scarcely  have  ventured  on  coming  to  Paris,  if  such 
communications  had  not  taken  place),  had  under- 
taken the  negotiation,  and  it  had  succeeded.  I  did 
not  indeed  believe  that  Moreau  had  taken  any  active 
part  in  the  scheme  of  assassination ;  but  that  he  had 
concerted  with  Pichegru  what  was  to  ensue  upon 
the  event,  and  the  means  of  taking  advantage  of  it, 


006       MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

seemed  to  me  to  be  beyond  a  doubt.*  I  also  believed 
that  he  had  not  given  his  consent  to  the  return  of 
the  Bourbons,  and  that  the  possibility  of  retaining 
the  supreme  power  for  himself,  or,  at  the  most,  of 
sharing  it  with  Pichegru,  had  occurred  to  him,  and 
inspired  him  with  the  hope  of  reaping  all  the 
benefits  of  the  crime  committed  by  the  partisans  of 
the  Bourbons.  Thus,  he  was  clearly  not  working  for 
them,  and  if  he  served  them,  it  was  without  his  know- 
ledge. Moreover,  Pichegru  would  probably  not 
have  insisted  strongly  on  the  point ;  in  the  first  place, 
because  he  recognised  the  necessity  of  a  less  abrupt 
transition  between  Bonaparte  and  the  Bourbons  ;  and 
secondly,  because  the  matter  of  real  importance  was 
to  raise  Moreau  to  the  first  rank,  to  make  sure  of  his 
numerous  partisans,  and  above  all  to  get  rid  of  the 
Bonaparte  family  and  the  generals  of  the  army  of 
Italy.  I  was  the  more  confirmed  in  my  opinion  that 
the  coalition  between  Moreau  and  the  Royalists  had 
been  made  with  that  reservation,  because,  inde- 
pendently of  the  prize  thus  offered  to  Moreau's 
ambition  in  the  future,  he  could  not  doubt  that  the 
adherence  of  a  considerable  number  of  his  partisans, 

*  Ileal  had  told  me  that  one  of  tho  accused,  named  Holland, 
when  under  examination  said  that  Moreau,  in  reply  to  an 
overture  that  had  been  made  to  him  concerning  the  plot,  had 
used  the  following  si  l;i  ii  liea  nt  words  :  "Let  Piehegru  undertake 
to  rid  me  of  the  three  Consuls  and  of  the  Governor;  I  am  sure 
of  the  Si  n ate." 


I 


THE   CADOUDAL    CONSPIRACY.  G07 

and  the  approval  of  the  Senate  must  depend  on  the 
certainty  they  would  feel  that  he  had  no  intention 
of  bringing  back  the  Bourbons.  Even  Cadoudal 
must  have  been  made  a  party  to  the  transaction,  and 
must  have  consented  to  it ;  because,  although  the  fill 
of  Bonaparte  and  the  rise  of  Moreau  would  not  bring 
about  the  immediate  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  it 
was  nevertheless  a  great  step  in  their  favour.  But 
it  had  been  impossible  to  confide  all  these  things 
to  Cadoudal's  followers,  or  to  make  them  understand 
the  necessity  for  this  modification.  At  the  first 
suspicion  of  an  agreement  between  Moreau  and 
Pichegru  which  had  not  for  its  objects  the  immediate 
recall  of  the  Bourbons,  they  would  naturally  take 
alarm  and  manifest  dissatisfaction.  In  such  a  con- 
junction of  things,  if  one  of  them  was  apprised  of  the 
truth,  it  followed  that  he  would  betray  Moreau  and 
Pichegru.  This  was  precisely  what  occurred  on  the 
arrest  of  Bouvet,  who,  desiring  to  labour  for  the  Bour- 
bons only,  did  not  hesitate,  on  receiving  a  promise 
of  pardon  for  himself,  to  make  admissions  that 
implicated  Moreau.  Without  those  admissions  the 
General's  name  would  not  have  appeared  in  this  affair. 
Such  is  the  light  in  which  I  regarded  at  that 
period  the  whole  conspiracy  and  the  machinery 
which  had  put  it  in  motion.  The  sequel  confirmed 
my  first  impressions,  and  I  now  remain  convinced  that 
the  design  and  progress  of  the  plot  were  such  as  I  have 


G08       MEMOIRS  OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

just  indicated.  The  causes  of  its  failure  are  equally 
plain.  The  web,  no  doubt,  was  strongly  woven,  and 
its  ramifications  were  widely  extended ;  for  such  men 
as  Dumouriez  (who,  although  he  remained  in  the 
background,  had  a  great  part  in  its  execution)  and 
Pichegru  would  not  have  gone  so  far,  if  they  had 
not  been  certain  of  strong  support  from  within.  The 
readiness  with  which  returned  or  amnestied  emigre's 
accepted  places,  their  influence  in  the  electoral 
colleges,  which  they  entered  in  crowds,  announced, 
not  indeed  their  conversion  to  the  system  then 
prevailing  in  France,  or  their  gratitude  to  the  First 
Consul,  but  their  hopes  of  a  restoration  of  the  former 
order  of  things,  and  their  desire  of  a  complete 
counter-revolution.  If  Moreau  would  have  con- 
sented to  lead  the  army  in  the  same  direction 
(which  his  military  renown  might  perhaps  have 
made  it  easy  for  him  to  do)  he  might  have 
played  the  part  of  Monk,  for  which  he  was,  by 
character,  more  fitted  than  Bonaparte,  who  had 
always  rejected  and  despised  it.  But  unity  of  design 
was  wanting  to  this  great  conspiracy.  Moreau 
wanted,  by  overthrowing  Bonaparte,  to  avenge 
himself  and  to  usurp  his  place;  he  took  no  account 
of  the  Bourbons.  The  exclusive  partisans  of  the 
limirboiis  desired  their  restoration  only,  and  would 
consent  to  no  compromise  on  that  point.  The 
medium    party,   which    hoped   either    to    share    the 


THE  CADOUDAL  CONSPIBACY.  609 


supreme  power  with  Moreau,  or  to  make  use  of  him, 
so  as  to  bring  back  the  Bourbons  at  a  later  period, 
stood  between  the  two  extremes,  and  was  suspected 
by  both.  Thus,  so  soon  as  the  conspiracy  was  detected 
by  spies,  and  one  of  its  members  was  arrested, 
the  police  had  but  to  flatter  personal  interests,  or  to 
excite  personal  resentments,  in  order  to  lay  hold  of 
the  thread.  This  was  accordingly  clone,  and  Moreau 
appeared  on  the  scene.  Pichegru  and  Georges 
Cadoudal  were  betrayed  by  their  own  followers,  and 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  police.*  Notwithstanding 
the  suppression  of  trial  by  jury  in  the  case  of  crimes 
against  the  State,  a  suppression  that  had  been 
decreed  by  a  Senatus-Consultum ;  notwithstanding 
further  modifications  in  the  usual  manner  of  con- 
ducting criminal  trials,  proceedings  could  only  be 
taken  against  individuals  actually  accused  of  having 
taken  part  in  the  conspiracy,  and  could  not  therefore 
touch  all  those  persons  who  were  indicated  by  the 
police  reports  as  being,  if  not  actors,  at  least  secret 
abettors  of  the  attempt  against  the  existence  of  the 
Government  and  the  person  of  its  Chief.  The  greater 
number  of  these   were  returned  emigres,   who   had 

*  Pichegru,  having  been  betrayed  by  a  stockbroker  named 
Leblanc,  was  arrested  on  the  8th  Ventose  in  the  Rue  de 
Chabanais.  Georges  Cadoudal  was  arrested  on  the  18ih  of  the 
same  month,  after  a  desperate  resistance.  The  gates  of  Paris 
had  been  closed  for  several  days,  and  this  measure  ensured  the 
capture  of  Cadoudal. 

VOL.    I.  2    R 


610      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

been  sufferers  by  the  events  of  the  18th  Fructidor, 
year  V. ;  some  of  them  were  even  members  of  the 
Senate. 

These  discoveries  and  the  suspicions  which  they 
excited  deprived  the  First  Consul  of  all  repose.  His 
troubles  increased  daily.  The  Bourbon  Princes  were 
said  to  be  ready  to  return  to  France ;  he  was  asked 
to  believe  that  some  of  them  were  already  in  Paris. 
He  was  made  to  feel  the  impossibility  of  baffling  so 
many  conspiracies  by  the  simple  machinery  of 
ordinary  law.  Some  strong  measure,  some  coup 
cVJEtatwixs  needed  to  bring  these  constantly  recurring 
troubles  to  an  end,  and  to  tranquillise,  not  only  the 
partisans  of  the  Revolution,  but  also  members  of 
the  old  noblesse,  and  those  returned  emigres,  who, 
having  accepted  appointments,  in  the  army,  the 
administration,  and  even  in  the  household  of 
Bonaparte,  all  equally  dreaded  the  return  of  the 
Bourbons. 

The  First  Consul,  thus  urged  by  two  opposite 
parties,  who  for  the  moment  united  to  attain  a 
common  end,  influenced  also  by  the  instinct  of 
self-preservation,  and  above  all  by  the  hope  of 
raising  an  enduring  and  insurmountable  barrier 
between  France  and  the  Bourbons,  resolved  on 
striking  a  decisive  blow,  for  which  Talleyrand 
prepared  the  way. 

It   was  known   in    Paris  thai    the   Due  d'Enghien 


THE  CADOUDAL  CONSPIRACY.  611 


was  residing  at  the  castle  of  Ettenheim,  in  the 
Margravate  of  Baden,  with  the  Princess  Charlotte  of 
Rohan-Rochefort.  The  presence  of  the  Duke  in 
such  close  vicinity  to  the  French  frontier  might,  in 
the  present  difficult  conjuncture,  be  supposed  to  be 
a  reasonable  cause  of  uneasiness  to  the  Government 
by  contributing  to  encourage  the  hopes  of  its 
enemies.  Nothing  therefore  could  have  been  more 
simple  than  to  require  from  the  Margrave  of  Baden 
the  dismissal  of  a  guest  whose  presence  had  become 
an  obstacle  to  the  continuance  of  a  good  understand- 
ing between  the  two  countries.  Such  a  request 
would  have  been  reasonable,  and  doubtless  it  would 
not  have  been  refused.  But  this  measure,  the  only 
one  that  justice  could  approve,  was  indecisive  and 
insignificant.  More  than  this  was  required,  or  at 
least  Bonaparte  thought  so,  to  satisfy  and  tranquillise 
the  few  remaining  Jacobins  and  also  those  members 
of  the  nobility  who  had  come  over  to  his  side. 
Talleyrand,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  '  noble  '  party, 
and  at  the  same  time  Minister  of  Exterior  Relations, 
did  not  shrink  from  taking  steps  in  the  latter 
capacity  to  arrive  at  a  far  more  definite  result.  He 
wrote  to  the  Margrave  of  Baden,  in  the  name  of 
the  First  Consul,  informing  him  that  a  detachment 
of  French  troops  had  orders  to  arrest  the  Due 
d'Enghien,  and  the  letter,  which  was  afterwards 
published,  and  some  portions  of  which  were  known 

2  r  2 


G12      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 


in  Paris  at  the  time,  contained  the  following  remark- 
able sentence.  "  The  conduct  of  the  Bourbons 
towards  the  First  Consul  gives  him  a  right  to  pursue 
and  to  take  them  in  every  place,  and  by  any  means 
whatsoever."  A  false  and  odious  maxim,  subversive 
of  the  first  principles  of  the  rights  of  man,  and  of 
the  reciprocal  independence  of  nations  ! 

Canlaincourt,  who  was  ordered  to  arrest  the  Due 
d'Enghien,  set  about  his  task  with  the  greatest 
despatch.  He  sent  a  detachment  from  the  garrison 
of  Strasburg  to  the  castle  of  Ettenheim.  The  Prince 
was  taken  by  force,  was  removed  first  to  the  fortress 
of  Strasburg,  and  taken  from  thence,  travelling  post, 
to  Paris.  I  heard  these  particulars  on  the  evening 
of  the  28th  Ventose  (March  10)  from  Joseph 
Bonaparte,  who  had  been  in  complete  ignorance  of 
the  affair  until  then.  We  puzzled  our  brains  over 
the  motives  of  this  extraordinary  proceeding ;  we 
were  very  far  from  foreseeing  its  end. 

On  the  following  day,  some  of  the  newspapers 
announced  the  arrest  of  the  Prince,  but  the '  Moniteur' 
made  no  mention  of  the  fact. 

The  next,  morning,  the  30th  Ventose  (March  21), 
I.  :md  some  of  my  colleagues,  were  at  Regnault  do 
St.  Jean-d'Angely'e  house;  Joseph  Bonaparte  was 
there  also.  We  were  discussing  what  ought  to  be 
done  about  the  Prince  who  had  been  arrested  at 
Ettenheim;  and  endeavouring  to  forecast  the  effect 


THE  BUG  D'ENGHIEN.  613 


that  would  be  produced  by  either  severity  or 
clemency.  But  while  we  were  thus  conversing, 
the  fate  of  him  of  whom  we  spoke  was  already 
decided  ;  that  unfortunate  Prince  was  no  longer  in 
existence. 

According*  to  accounts  we  received  while  we  were 
still  at  Regnault's  house,  the  Due  d'Enghien,  ac- 
companied by  an  officer  of  gendarmerie  who  had 
shared  his  carriage  from  Strasburg,  arrived  on  the 
preceding  evening  at  the  barrier  of  Pantin.  An 
officer  in  command  there  ordered  the  carriage  to  be 
turned  back.  Some  uncertainty  as  to  the  execution 
of  that  order  had  caused  a  short  delay.  Finally  an 
orderly  officer  brought  positive  instructions  that 
the  Prince  should  be  taken  to  Yincennes.  This  was 
done  by  driving  round  the  outskirts  of  Paris,  along 
the  fortifications.  He  arrived  at  his  journey's  end 
at  seven  in  the  evening,  and  was  imprisoned  in  the 
Keep.  A  few  hours  later  a  court-martial*  was 
formed,  the  Due  d'Enghien  was  brought  before  it, 
and  sentence  was  pronounced  on  the  spot.f  The 
Prince  was  unanimously  condemned  to  death,  taken 

*  The  Court  consisted  of  five  officers  of  the  rank  of  Colonel, 
a  Captain  of  Gendarmerie  acting  as  reporter,  and  a  Captain  of 
Infantry  of  the  Line  as  Kegistrar.  Their  names  are  given  in 
the  'Moniteur'  of  the  1st  Germinal.  The  President  of  the 
Court  was  General  Hullin. 

t  As  the  sentence  was  passed  after  midnight,  it  is  dated  the 
30th  Ventose,  year  XII.  (March  21,  1804). 


614      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  DE  ME  LI  TO. 

at  daybreak  to    the  castle  moat,  and  shot  by  the 
gendarmes. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  describe  the  sensation 
which  this  occurrence  produced  in  Paris.  Disturb- 
ance, dismay  and  consternation  prevailed.  People 
did  not  dare  either  to  speak  together  or  to  ask  any 
questions.  This  first  blood  shed  under  circumstances 
so  terrible  and  revolting,  this  first  stain  on  a 
character  that  until  then  had  been  free  from  all 
reproach  of  cruelty,  this  adoption  of  the  forms  of 
the  Revolutionary  Tribunals  during  the  Conven- 
tion, created  profound  alarm.  It  looked  like  a  sign 
of  interior  change,  like  the  development  of  evil 
passions,  of  which  this  deed  was  but  a  first  mani- 
festation. People  feared  that  the  First  Consul, 
having  once  entered  on  this  sanguinary  path,  would 
not  be  able  to  draw  back  from  it.  They  trembled  to 
see  him  surrounded  by  servile  instruments,  and  judges 
who  were  ready  to  condemn  the  accused  before  he 
had  been  brought  before  them.  Happily  these 
sinister  forebodings  were  not  realised.  The  blood 
spilt  on  that  fatal  occasion  was  precious,  that  cannot 
be  disputed;  the  sentence  was  iniquitous;  but  it 
is  the  solitary  instance  in  which,  during  the  whole 
of  ln's  tenure  of  power,  Bonaparte  deserved  such  a 
reproach, 

On    being    brought    before    the    Court,    the    Due 
d'Enghien   had  at  once  admitted  that  lie  had  borne 


THE  DUC  D'ENGHIEN.  fil5 

arms  against  France.  "I  have  been  proscribed," 
he  said,  "  for  fifteen  years,  and,  having  no  longer  a 
country,  I  have  made  war  on  France,  but  I  have 
made  it  honourably." 

He  denied  that  he  had  any  part  in  the  projected 
assassination  of  the  First  Consul,  and  declared  that 
he  had  never  been  implicated  in  any  plot  of  that 
nature. 

On  learning  his  sentence,  he  demanded  to  speak 
with  the  First  Consul ;  but  an  interview,  which 
would  perhaps  have  prevented  a  crime,  was  refused 
to  him. 

During  the  rest  of  the  week  marked  by  this  fatal 
catastrophe,  Bonaparte  remained  at  Malmaison  alone 
with  his  wife,  an  officer  of  the  Guard,  a  Prefect  of 
the  Palace,  and  a  Lady-in-Waiting.  No  other  person 
had  dined  with  him,  and  Madame  Bonaparte  was 
forbidden  to  receive  any  other  lady. 

It  was  said  at  the  time  that  she  had  urgently  in- 
terceded with  her  husband  to  obtain  the  life  of  the 
Due  d'Enghien,  but  that  all  her  entreaties  had  failed 
to  shake  his  determination.  But,  although  her  well- 
known  kindness  of  heart  places  it  beyond  a  doubt 
that  she  would  have  made  every  effort  to  save  the 
Prince,  had  she  known  of  his  impending  fate,  it  is 
difficult  to  believe  that  she  had  an  opportunity  of 
doing  so.  How,  indeed,  could  she  have  made  the 
attempt,  however  natural  it  would  have  been,  in  the 


016      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

short  time  that  elapsed  between  the  sentence  and  the 
execution  ?  * 

Fouche'    had    at   first   been    named    among    the 

dangerous  advisers  whose  counsels  had  been  followed 

by  Bonaparte  ;    but,  in  addition  to  its  being  very 

unlikely  that  the  First  Consul  asked  the  advice  of 

any  one,  a  rumour  prevailed  that  Fouche'  had  been 

opposed  to  the  death  of  the  Due  d'Enghien,  and  he 

was  said  to  have  made  use  of  the  expression,  which 

has  since  then  become  famous  :     "  It  is  more  than  a 

crime,    it  is  a  blunder."      Talleyrand  was  said  to 

have  been  in  favour  of  the  death-sentence,   and  to 

have  gone  too  far  for  retreat.     But  I  caunot  speak 

with  certainty  on  this  point.    Joseph  Bonaparte,  the 

only  person  who  could  have  enlightened  me,  either 

did  not  know  the  facts,  or  did  not  choose  to  confide 

them  to  me. 

Several  papers  had  been  seized  at  Ettenheim  ; 
among  them  was  a  list  of  persons  in  France  on 
whom  the  Prince  might  have  relied.  This  list  was 
said  to  contain  the  names  of  certain  Councillors  of 
State,  such  as  Barbe'-Marbois,  Simeon,  Portalis  and 
others.  It  has  been  proved  by  subsequent  events 
that  iliese  imputations  were  not  unfounded;  it  is 
therefore  all  the  more  remarkable  that  no  injury  re- 

*  The  sentence  had  been  pronounced  at  Vincennes  between 
two  and  three  in  the  morning,  and  at  four  o'clock  it  was 
executed.     See  note  by  the  translators  in  the  Appendix. 


AFTER  THE  DEED.  617 

suited  from  them  to  the  persons  involved.  They  con- 
tinued to  enjoy  Bonaparte's  favour  and  to  serve  him 
so  long  as  his  power  lasted.  These  reports,  however, 
whether  true  or  false,  had  spread  general  alarm  ;  the 
most  absurd  rumours  were  circulated.  A  Bourbon 
Prince  was,  it  was  said,  concealed  in  the  house  of  the 
Austrian  Minister,  who  had  given  him  an  asylum  ; 
Duroc  had  gone  to  Vienna  to  negotiate  for  permis- 
sion to  search  the  ambassador's  house,  &c.  In  short, 
general  alarm  prevailed,  and,  as  the  Government 
had  restricted  itself  to  publishing  an  account  of  the 
court-martial  at  Vincennes  in  the  '  Moniteur '  of 
the  1st  Germinal  without  adding  any  explanation, 
that  alarm  was  increased  by  all  that  Parisian 
credulity  chose  to  add  to  the  reality. 

The  First  Consul  emerged  at  last  from  his  re- 
tirement. He  appeared  at  the  Council  of  State 
on  the  3rd  Germinal,  and  delivered  the  following 
speech,  which  I  consigned  to  writing  on  the  same 
dav  : — 

"  I  can  scarcely  conceive  that  in  so  enlightened  a 
city  as  Paris,  in  the  capital  of  a  great  empire,  such 
ridiculous  rumours  can  be  credited  as  those  which 
have  been  circulating  for  the  last  few  days.  How 
can  any  one  believe  that  a  Bourbon  Prince  is  here, 
that  he  is  hiding  at  the  German  Ambassador's  house, 
and  that  I  have  not  dared  to  have  him  arrested  ! 
People  who  believe  this  must  know   me  very  little  ; 


618      MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

and  must  have  a  poor  idea  of  the  policy  that  should 
guide  the  Government.  If  the  Due  de  Berry,  if  any 
Bourbon  were  in  hiding  at  the  house  of  M.  de 
'  Cobentzel,*  I  should  not  only  have  had  him  seized, 
but  shot  on  the  same  day,  and  M.  de  Cobentzel  with 
him.  If  the  Archduke  Charles  were  in  Paris,  and 
he  had  afforded  an  asylum  to  one  of  those  Princes, 
I  should  have  done  the  very  same  thing ;  he 
should  have  been  shot.  We  live  no  longer  in  the 
time  of  sanctuary.  We  are  not  obliged,  as  were  the 
Athenians,!  to  respect  the  temple  of  Minerva,  which 
had  to  be  unroofed  so  that  a  general  who  had  fled 
thither  might  be  seized  because  the  people  dared  not 
take  him  within  the  precinct.  Europe  and  the 
nations  are  ruled  by  other  ideas  at  the  present  day. 
To  suppose  that  I  have  despatched  Duroc  (who  has 
not  left  Paris)  to  the  Emperor  to  obtain  permission  to 
search  the  house  of  bis  ambassador,  when  one  of  our 
greatest  enemies  is  supposed  to  be  in  hiding  there, 
is  to  degrade  France  to  the  level  of  the  pettiest 
republics  of  Europe,  to  that  of  Genoa  or  of  Venice ; 
and  yet  even  the  latter  ordered  the  arrest  of  the 
Marquis  de  Bedmar.J     Such  rumours,  such  suspicions 

*  Count  Philip  von  Cobentzel  was  at  that  time  Austrian 
Ambassador  m  Paris. 

f  This  quotation  is  inoorreot.  The  oircumstanoe  ocourredat 
Sparta  with  regard  to  Pausanias,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
temple  of  the  Minerva  of  Chalcis. 

%  Their  is  an  error  here  also.     The  Marquis  de  Bedraar  was 


AFTER  THE  DEED.  619 

as  these  are  derogatory  to  me,  and  also  to  the  ambas- 
sador of  whom  I  have  no  reason  to  complain.  I 
have  therefore  thought  it  right  to  make  the  Council 
of  State  acquainted  with  the  whole  truth,  so  that  the 
men  who  compose  it  may  rectify  public  opinion  and 
direct  it  towards  more  reasonable  conclusions." 

"  I  have,  moreover,"  continued  the  First  Consul, 
after  a  short  interval,  "  caused  the  Senate  to  be 
informed  of  the  particulars  of  the  correspondence 
organised  by  Drake ;  *  they  also  shall  be  laid  before 
the  Council,  which  will  be  enabled  to  judge  of  the 


not  arrested  by  the  Venetian  Senate ;  but  his  house  was 
searched,  and  he  made  loud  complaints  on  the  subject.  He 
appeared  before  the  Senate  to  defend  himself  in  person  against 
the  accusation  in  question.  The  Senate  could  only  protect  him 
from  the  fury  of  the  people  by  sending  him  under  escort  to  the 
place  of  embarkation. 

These  errors  are  of  no  real  importance,  and  do  not  detract 
from  the  rude  eloquence  of  this  remarkable  speech. 

*  Drake,  an  envoy  from  England  to  Munich,  where  he  was 
residing  in  1803  and  1804,  gained  celebrity  as  a  spy,  and  by 
the  intrigues  which  he  carried  on  during  his  various  missions. 
Papers  relating  to  a  correspondence  he  had  organised  in  the 
interior  of  France  were  laid  before  the  Senate.  They  were 
also  sent  to  all  the  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Body  in  Paris, 
who  replied,  in  the  name  of  their  respective  Courts,  by  assur- 
ances of  absolute  adhesion  to  the  First  Consul.  These  replies 
may  be  seen  in  the  '  Moniteur '  of  the  7th  Germinal,  year  XII. ; 
they  vie  with  each  other  in  adulation.  See  also  the  '  Moniteur ' 
of  the  4th  Germinal,  in  which  these  documents  are  published, 
also  a  pamphlet,  by  Mehee,  which  appeared  at  this  time  with  the 
title  of  '  Alliance  des  Jacobins  avec  le  ministere  Anglais.' 


620      MEMOIRS   OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

principles  by  which  the  English  Ministers  are 
guided,  and  whether  we  owe  much  consideration  to 
those,  who  under  the  cloak  of  diplomacy  organise 
assassination  and  atrocious  crimes.  We  shall  see 
what  is  due  to  a  family  whose  members  have 
become  the  base  tools  of  England.  Let  not  France 
deceive  herself!  For  her  there  will  be  neither 
peace  nor  quiet  until  the  last  Bourbon  shall  have 
been  exterminated.  I  had  one  of  them  seized  at 
Ettenheim.  On  my  first  request,  the  Margrave  con- 
sented to  my  seizing  him,  and  how,  indeed,  should 
the  law  of  nations  be  claimed  by  those  who  have 
planned  an  assassination,  who  give  orders  for  it,  and 
pay  for  it  ?  By  such  a  deed  alone  they  put  them- 
selves beyond  the  pale  of  European  nations.*  And 
then  people  talk  to  me  of  the  right  of  sanctuary,  of 
violation  of  territory  !  What  utter  nonsense  !  They 
know  me  very  little.  My  veins  run  with  blood,  not 
water. 

''However,  I  am  bound  to  state,  that  in  this  city  of 
Paris  those  men  found  neither  shelter  nor  partisans. 
None  of  the  returned  or  amnestied  emigres  are 
implicated.  Hitherto,  I  protest  I  have  had  no 
reason  to  complain  of  them.  Perhaps  in  their 
hearts  they  may  have  desired  a  change,  but  it 
belongs  to  God  alone  to  look  into  the  conscience; 


< 


This  is  (lie  dangerous  maxim  Laid  down  in  Talleyrand's 


letter  to  the  Margrave  "l'  Baden 


O' 


AFTER  THE  DEED.  621 

I  can  only  judge  of  actions.*  Therefore  I  am  far 
from  changing  the  maxims  of  Government,  far  from 
condemning  a  number  of  people  in  a  mass.  I  shall 
seize  and  I  shall  strike  guilty  individuals,  but  I  shall 
take  no  wholesale  measures.  I  repeat  it,  the  maxims 
of  the  Government  shall  not  be  chano;ed. 

"  I  ordered  the  prompt  trial  and  execution  of  the 
Due  d'Enghien,  so  that  the  returned  emigres  might 
not  be  led  into  temptation.  I  feared  that  the  long 
delays  of  a  trial,  the  solemnity  of  condemnation,  might 
revive  sentiments  that  they  could  not  have  refrained 
from  exhibiting ;  and  that  I  might  have  been  obliged 
to  hand  them  over  to  the  police,  thus  extending 
instead  of  narrowing  the  circle  of  the  guilty ,f 

"  The  Duke  was,  moreover,  tried  by  a  court- 
martial,  to  which  he  was  amenable  ;  he  had  borne 
arms  against  France,  he  had  made  war  on  us.  By 
his  death,  he  has  repaid  a  part  of  the  blood  of  two 
millions  of  French  citizens  who  perished  in  that  war. 
It  will  be  seen  by  the  papers  we  have  seized  that 
he  had  established  himself  at  Ettenheim  so  as  to  carry 
on  a  correspondence  with  the  interior  of  France. 
I  arrested  him  in  the  Margravate  of  Baden.  Who 
knows  whether   I  might   not  also    have  seized  the 

*  Such  a  principle  cannot  be  too  much  praised  in  the  head 
of  a  Government. 

j  He  had  said  to  Truguet,  two  days  before,  "  Well,  there  is 
one  Bourbon  the  less  !  I  wished  to  spare  him  the  terror  of 
death  by  having  him  shot  at  once." 


622       MEMOIRS  OF  COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

other  Bourbons  who  are  living  at  Warsaw  ?  Do 
people  suppose  that  they  live  there  without  ray 
knowledge  ?  On  the  contrary,  they  live  there 
entirely  because  of  my  consent.  Paul,*  who  was  a 
man  of  logical  mind,  after  making  peace  with  me, 
himself  proposed  to  banish  the  Bourbons  from  his 
states.  Austria  would  shelter  none  of  them,  and 
I  shall  not  make  peace  with  England  until  she 
consents  to  the  total  expulsion  of  the  Bourbons  and 
the  emigres. 

"  But,  as  it  was  necessary  to  allow  them  to  live 
somewhere,  Warsaw  was  named,  and  I  consented  to 
this.  I  went  even  farther ;  on  the  proposition  of 
the  King  of  Prussia,  and  in  order  to  withdraw  the 
remaining  members  of  the  family  from  the  influence 
of  England,  I  was  resolved  on  making  them  a 
suitable  allowance,  and  I  believe  that  in  so  doing 
the  Republic  would  have  made  a  political  sacrifice 
favourable  to  its  tranquillity.  I  am  aware  of  the 
ridiculous  rumours  to  which  this  negotiation  has 
given  rise ;  it  was  said  that  I  had  exacted  from 
those  Princes  a  renunciation  of  the  Throne/j"  and 
that  their  refusal  to  comply  with  that  condition  had 
caused  the  whole  negotiation  to  fail.     There  is  not  a 


*  Tlio  Emperor  of  Russia,  who  was  assassinated  in  March 
1801.  Be  had,  in  truth,  conceived  a  passionate  attachment  to 
Bonaparte. 

f  This  alludes  to  his  letter  to  Louis  XVIII. 


A  RECEPTION.  623 


particle  of  truth  in  this  absurd  story ;  the  facts  are 
those  I  have  just  laid  before  you." 

The  First  Consul  paused  after  the  above  words  ; 
he  then  transacted  some  business  of  little  importance 
and  broke  up  the  sitting  at  an  early  hour. 

On  the  following  day,  Sunday,  the  4th  Germinal 
(March  25),  he  held  a  reception  at  the  Tuileries,  at 
which  the  various  authorities,  generals  and  other 
persons  of  distinction  hastened  to  present  themselves. 
He  conversed  with  everybody,  repeated  in  part  what 
he  had  said  to  the  Council  of  State,  used  the  same 
arguments,  and  seemed  on  the  whole  to  be  seeking 
for  general  approbation.  A  deputation  from  the 
Legislative  Body,  which  had  risen  on  the  previous 
day,  was  also  received  by  him,  and  President 
Fontanes,  who  was  spokesman,  delivered  an  emphatic 
panegyric  of  the  First  Consul,  but  did  not  in  any 
way  allude  to  the  terrible  event  that  was  in  the 
thoughts  of  all.  The  words  "Republic"  and 
"  Bourbons  "  did  not  even  occur  in  his  speech. 

Meanwhile  the  gates  of  Paris  remained  closed, 
and  the  prosecution  of  all  those  who  had  taken  part 
in  the  conspiracy  was  carried  on.  Two  of  the 
Polignacs,  M.  de  Riviere,  and  several  others,  had 
been  arrested. 

Amid  all  these  scenes  of  terror  and  alarm,  M.  de 
Talleyrand  found  means  to  distinguish  himself  by  a 
piece  of  egregious  flattery.     On  the  3rd  Germinal, 


624      MEMOIRS   OF   COUNT  MIOT  BE  MELITO. 

three  days  after  the  death  of  the  Due  d'Enghien,  he 
gave  a  ball.  Two  months  previously  Madame  de 
Talleyrand  had  refused  to  be  present  at  a  ball, 
inadvertently  fixed  by  M.  de  Cobentzel  for  the  21st 
January,  the  anniversary  of  the  death  of  Louis 
XVI.  "  How  could  one  dance  on  such  a  day  as 
that  ?  "  she  had  said.  And  M.  de  Cobentzel  post- 
poned the  festivity.  What  then  can  we  think  of  such 
scrupulousness,  and  of  the  indecency  of  giving  an 
entertainment,  as  it  were,  to  the  crack  of  the 
muskets  which  had  just  shot  a  near  kinsman  of  that 
same  Louis  XVI. !  Nevertheless,  the  keen  and 
painful  sensation  created  in  Paris  by  that  grave 
catastrophe  rapidly  subsided,  or  at  least  it  was  care- 
fully ignored  by  the  habitual  courtiers  of  power. 
As  for  the  people  of  Paris,  their  curiosity  was  soon 
attracted  to  other  subjects,  and  they  forgot  an  event 
which  at  first  had  strongly  moved  them.  Besides, 
it  must  be  owned,  they  neither  remembered  nor 
loved  the  Bourbons,  of  whom  they  had  quite  lost 
sight.  And  they  had,  unfortunately,  been  too  long 
accustomed  to  scenes  of  bloodshed,  for  this  one 
to  strike  them  as  more  extraordinary  or  more 
distressing   than   so    many  others   which    they    had 

witnessed. 

KM)    OK    VOL.    1. 


ON:   riilNTF.i>   nv    wiii  mm    CLOWM    IND     OMB,    LIMITED, 
WFOKD   RTBRET    AND  •  H  kRINQ   CROSS. 


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Milton's  L' Allegro. 
Poetry  of  Nature.     Harrison  Weir. 
Rogers'  (Sam.)  Pleasures  of  Memory. 
Shakespeare's  Songs  and  Sonnets. 
Tennyson's  May  Queen. 
Elizabethan  Poets. 
Wordsworth's  Pastoral  Poems. 
"  Such  works  are  a  glorious  beatification  for  a  poet." — Athenaeum. 

Christ  in  Song.  By  Dr.  Philip  Schaff.  A  New  Edition, 
Revised,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  6s. 

Cobbett  ( William).     A  Biography.     By   Edward   Smith.     2 

vols.,  crown  Svo,  2^s. 
Confessions  of  a  Frivolous  Girl  {The)  :  A  Novel  of  Fashionable 

Life.     Edited  by  Robert  Grant.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 
Cradle-Land  of  Arts  and  Creeds  ;  or,  Nothing  New  under  the 

Sun.     By  Charles  J.  Stone,  Barrister-at-law,  and  late  Advocate, 

High  Courts,  Bombay.      Svo,  pp.  420,  cloth,  14?. 

Cripps  the  Carrier.     3rd  Edition,  6s.     See  Blackmore. 
Cruise  of  H.M.S.  "  Challenger"  {The).     By  W.  J.  J.  Spry,  R.N. 

With  Route  Map  and  many  Illustrations.    6th  Edition,  demy  Svo,  cloth, 
l8.r.      Cheap  Edition,  crown  8vo,  some  of  the  Illustrations,  "js.  6c/. 

Curious  Adventures  of  a  Field  Cricket.  By  Dr.  Ernest 
CANDEZE.  'Translated  by  N.  D'Anvers.  With  numerous  fine 
Illustrations.     Crown  Svo,  gilt,  7-r.  6d. ;  plain  binding  and  edges,  $s. 

F)ANA  {P.  LL.)  Two  Years  before  the  Mast  and  Twenty- Four 
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Daughter  (A)  of  Heth.     By  W.  Black.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 
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By  an  Eton  Boy,  Author  of  "About  Some  Fellows."     i6mo,  cloth 

extra,  2s.  6d.     6th  Thousand. 


List  of  Publications. 


Diane.     By  Mrs.  Macquoid.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

Dick  Cheveley ;  his  Fortunes  and  Misfortunes.     By  W.  H.  G. 

Kingston.     350  pp.,   square    i6mo,  and  22   full-page   Illustrations. 

Cloth,  gilt  edges,  Js.  6d. ;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  $s. 

Dick   Sands,    the   Boy    Captain.      By   Jules   Verne.      With 

nearly  100  Illustrations,  cloth,  gilt,  ioj.  6d.  ;  plain  binding  and  plain 
edges,  5-r. 

Dictionary  {General)  of  Archccology  and  Antiquities.  From 
the  French  of  E.  Bosc.  Crown  Svo,  with  nearly  200  Illustrations, 
ioj.  6d. 

Dodge  (Mrs.  M.)  Hans  Brinker;  or,  the  Silver  Skates.  An 
entirely  New  Edition,  with  59  Full-page  and  other  Woodcuts. 
Square  crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  $s.  ;  Text  only,  paper,  is. 

Dogs  of  Assize.  A  Legal  Sketch-Book  in  Black  and  White. 
Containing  6  Drawings  by  Walter  J.  Allen.  Folio,  in  wrapper,  6s.  Sd. 

JOIGHT  Cousins.     See  Alcott. 

Eighteenth     Century    Studies.       Essays     by    F.     Hitchman. 

Demy  Svo.  iSj. 
Elementary  Education  in  Saxony.     By  J.  L.  Bash  ford,  M.A., 

Trin.    Coll.,  Camb.      For  Masters   and   Mistresses    of    Elementary 

Schools.     Sewn,  is. 

Elinor  Dryden.     By  Mrs.  Macquoid.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

E/ubroidery  (Handbook  of).  By  L.  Higgin.  Edited  by  Lady 
Marian  Alford,  and  published  by  authority  of  the  Royal  School  of 
Art  Needlework.  With  16  page  Illustrations,  Designs  for  Borders, 
&c.      Crown  Svo,  $s. 

English  Philosophers.  Edited  by  Iwan  Muller,  M.A.,  New 
College,  Oxon.  A  Series  of  Volumes  containing  short  biographies 
of  the  most  celebrated  English  Philosophers,  to  each  of  whom  is 
assigned  a  separate  volume,  giving  as  comprehensive  and  detailed  a 
statement  of  his  views  and  contributions  to  Philosophy  as  possible, 
explanatory  rather  than  critical,  opening  with  a  brief  biographical 
sketch,  and  concluding  with  a  short  general  summary,  and  a  biblio- 
graphical appendix.  The  Volumes  will  be  issued  at  brief  intervals,  in 
square  l6mo,  3-r.  6</.,  containing  about  200  pp.  each. 

The  foil 07v in g  are  in  the  press  : — 
Bacon.     Professor  Fowler,  Professor  of  Logic  in  Oxford. 
Berkeley.     Professor  T.  H.  Green,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy, 

Oxford. 
Hamilton.     Professor  Monk,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy,  Dublin. 

[A\ad_y. 
J.  S.  Mill.     Helen  Taylor,  Editor  of  "  The  Works  of  Buckle,"  &c. 


8  Sampson  Low,  Mars  ton,  6°  Co.'s 

English  Philosophers  (continued) ; — 

Mansel.     Rev.  J.  H.  Huckin,  D.D.,  Head  Master  of  Repton. 
Adam   Smith.      J.    A.    Farrer,    M.A.,    Author    of    ''Primitive 

Manners  and  Customs."         .  [Ready. 

Hobbes.  A.  H.  Gosset,  B.A.,  Fellow  of  New  College,  Oxford. 
Bentham.  G.  E.  Buckle,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  All  Souls',  Oxford. 
Austin.     Harry  Johnson,  B.A.,  late  Scholar  of  Queen's  College, 

Oxford. 
'Hartley.        }  E.    S.  Bowen,  B.A.,  late   Scholar  of  New  College, 
James  Mill. )  Oxford.  [Ready. 

Shaftesbury.  )  ~    ,  „ 

Hutcheson.    j  Pr°fessor  Fowler. 

Arrangements  are  in  progress  for  volumes  on  Locke,  Hume,  Paley,  Reid,  &c. 

Episodes  of  French  History.  Edited,  with  Notes,  Genealogical, 
Historical,  and  other  Tables,  by  Gustave  Masson,  B.A. 

1.  Charlemagrne  and  the  Carloving-ians. 

2.  Louis  XI.  and  the  Crusades. 

3.  Francis  I.  and  Charles  V. 

4.  Francis  I.  and  the  Renaissance. 

The  above  Series  is  based  upon  M.  Guizot's  "History  of  France." 
Each  volume  is  choicely  Illustrated,  with  Maps,  2s.  6d. 

Erema  ;  or,  My  Father's  Sin.     See  Blackmore. 

Etcher  {The).  Containing  36  Examples  of  the  Original 
Etched-work  of  Celebrated  Artists,  amongst  others:  Birket  Foster, 
J.  E.  Hodgson,  R.A.,  Colin  Hunter,  J.  P.  Heseltine,  Robert 
\V.  Macbeth,  R.  S.  Chattock,  H.  R.  Robertson,  &c,  &c. 
Imperial  4to,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  2/.  12s.  6d. 

Eton.  See  «  Day  of  my  Life,"  "  Out  of  School,"  "  About  Some 
Fellows." 

Evans  (C.)  Over  the  Hills  and  Far  Away.  By  C.  Evans. 
One  Volume,  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  \os.  6d. 

A  Strange  Friendship.     Crown  Svo,  cloth,  5^. 

Eve  of  Saint  Agnes  (The).  By  John  Keats.  Illustrated  with 
Nineteen  Etchings  by  Charles  O.  Murray.  Folio,  cloth  extra,  21s. 
An  Edition  de  Luxe  on  large  paper,  containing  proof  impressions,  has 
been  printed,  and  specially  bound,  3/.  3^. 

rpARM  Ballads.     By  Will  Carleton.     Boards,  is. ;   cloth, 

gilt  edges,  is.  6d. 

Fern  Paradise  ( The)  :  A  Plea  for  the  Culture  of  Ferns.  By 
F.  G.  Heath.  New  Edition,  entirely  Rewritten,  Illustrated  with 
Eighteen  full-pare,  numerous  other  Woodcuts,  including  cS  Plates  of 
Ferns  and  Four  Photographs,  large  post  8vo,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  \2s.  6d. 
Sixth  Edition.     In  12  Parts,  sewn,  is.  each. 


List  of  Publications.  9 


Fern  World  (The).     By  F.  G.  Heath.     Illustrated  by  Twelve 

Coloured  Plates,  giving  complete  Figures  (Sixty-four  in  all)  of  every 
Species  of  British  Fern,  printed  from  Nature  ;  by  several  full-page 
Engravings,     Cloth,  gilt,   6th  Edition,  12s.  6d. 

"  Mr.  Heath  has  really  given  us  good,  well-written  descriptions  of  our  native 
Ferns,  with  indications  of  their  habitats,  the  conditions  under  which  they  grow 
naturally,  and  under  which  they  may  be  cultivated." — Atlienaum. 

Few  (A)  Hints  071  Proving  Wills.     Enlarged  Edition,  \s. 

First  Steps  in  Conversational  French  Grammar.  By  F.  Julien. 
Being  an  Introduction  to  "  Petites  Lecons  de  Conversation  et  de 
Grammaire,"  by  the  same  Author.     Fcap.  8vo,  128  pp.,  is. 

Flooding  of  the  Sahara  (The).     See  Mackenzie. 

Food  for  the  People  ;  or,  Lentils  and  other  Vegetable  Cookery. 
By  E.  E.  Orlebar.     Third  Thousand.     Small  post  8vo,  boards,  is. 

Fool's  Er rand  (A).    By  One  of  the  Fools.    Author  of  Bricks 

without  Straw.      Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  with  numerous  Illustrations, 
8s.  bd. 
Footsteps  of  the  Master.     See  Stowe  (Mrs.  Beecher). 

Forbidden  Land  (A) :  Voy-iges  to  the  Corea.  By  G.  Oppert. 
Numerous  Illustrations  ani  Maps.     Demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  21s. 

Four  Lectures  on  Electric  Lnduction.  Delivered  at  the  Royal 
Institution,  1878-9.  By  J.  E.  H.  Gordon,  B.A.  Cantab.  With 
numerous  Illustrations.     Cloth  limp,  square  161110,  $s. 

Foreign  Countries  and  the  British  Colonies.  Edited  by  F.  S. 
Pulling,  M.A.,  Lecturer  at  Queen's  College,  Oxford,  and  formerly 
Professor  at  the  Yorkshire  College,  Leeds.  A  Series  of  small  Volumes 
descriptive  of  the  principal  Countries  of  the  World  by  well-known 
Authors,  each  Country  being  treated  of  by  a  Writer  who  from 
Personal  Knowledge  is  qualified  to  speak  with  authority  on  the  Subject. 
The  Volumes  average  180  crown  Svo  pages  each,  contain  2  Maps 
and  Illustrations,  crown  8vo,  3-r.  6d. 

The  following  is  a  List  of  the  Volumes  : — 
Denmark  and  Iceland.     By  E.  C.  Otte,  Author  of  "Scandinavian 

History,"  &c. 
Greece.     By  L.    Sergeant,  B.A.,   Knight  of  the  Hellenic   Order 

of  the  Saviour,  Author  of  "  New  Greece." 
Switzerland.       By      W.    A.     P.     COOLIDGE,     M.A.,     Fellow    of 

Magdalen  College,  Editor  of  The  Alpine  Journal. 
Austria.     By  D.  Kay,  F.R.G.S. 
Russia.      By    W.    R.   Morfill,     M.A.,    Oriel    College,    Oxford, 

Lecturer  on  the  Ilchester  Foundation,  &c. 
Persia.     By  Major-Gen.  Sir  F.  J.  Goldsmid,  K.C.S.I.,  Author  of 

"Telegraph  and  Travel,"  &c. 
Japan.     By  S.  Mossman,  Author  of  "  New  Japan,"  &c. 
Peru.     By  Clements  H.  Markham,  M.A.,  C.B. 
Canada.      By     W.     Fraser    Rae,     Author    of    "Westward    by 

Rail,"  &c. 


io  Sampson  Low,  Marston,  6°  Co.'s 

Foreign  Countries  (continued)  : — 

Sweden  and  Norway.     By  the  Rev.  F.  H.  Woods,  M.A.,  Fellow 

of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford. 
The  West  Indies.     By  C.  H.  Eden,  F.R.G.S.,  Author  of  "  Frozen 

Asia,"  &c. 
New  Zealand. 
France.     By  Miss  M.  Roberts,   Author  of  '*  The  Atelier  du  Lys," 

"Mdlle.  Mori,"  &c. 
Egypt.     By  S.  Lane  Poole,  B.A.,  Author  of  "The  Life  of  Edward 

Lane,"  &c. 
Spain.     By  the  Rev.    Wentworth  Webster,  MA.,  Chaplain  at 

St.  Jean  de  Luz. 
Turkey-in-Asia.     By  J.  C.  McCoAN,  M.P. 
Australia.     By  J.  F.   Vesey  Fitzgerald,  late   Premier  of  New 

South  Wales. 
Holland.     By  R.  L.  Poole. 

Franc  (Maude  Jeane).     The  following  form  one  Series,  small 

post  8vo,  in  uniform  cloth  bindings,  with  gilt  edges: — 

F/nily's  Choice.     $s. 

Hall's  Vineyard.     4s. 

John's  Wife  :  a  Story  of  Life  in  South  Australia.     4s. 

Marian  ;  or,  the  Light  of  Some  One's  Home.     5s. 

Silken  Cords  and  Iron  Fetters.     4s. 

Vermont  Vale.     $s. 

Minnie's  Mission.     4s. 

Little  Mercy.     5^. 

Beatrice  Melton's  Discipline.     4s. 

Froissart  (The  Boy's).  Selected  from  the  Chronicles  of  Eng- 
land, France,  Spain,  &c.  By  Sidney  LANIER.  The  Volume  is 
fully  Illustrated,  and  uniform  with  ' '  The  Boy's  King  Arthur."  Crown 
8vo,  cloth,  7^.  6d. 

SHAMES  of  Patience.     See  Cadogan. 

Gentle  Life  (Queen  Edition).     2  vols,  in  1,  small  4to,  10^.  Gd. 

THE     GENTLE     LIFE    SERIES. 

Trice  6s.  each  ;  or  in  calf  extra,  price  10s.  Gel.  ;  Smaller  Edition,  cloth 

extra,  is.  6d. 
A  Reprint  (with  the  exception  of  "  Familiar  Words "  and  "Other 
People's  Windows'')  has  been  issued  in  very  neat  limp  cloth  bindings 
at  2s.  6J.  each. 

The  Gentle  Life.     Essays  in  aid  of  the  Formation  of  Character 
of  Gentlemen  and  Gentlewomen.     21st  Edition. 

"  Deserves  to  be  printed  in  letters  of  gold,  and  circulated  in  every  house." — 
Chambers'  Journal. 


List  of  Publications.  1 1 


The  Gentle  Life  Series  (continued) : — 

About  in  the  World.     Essays  by  Author  of  "  The  Gentle  Life." 

"It  is  not  easy  to  open  it  at  any  page  without  finding  some  handy  idea." — Morn- 
ing Post. 

Like   unto  Christ.     A  New  Translation  of  Thomas  a  Kempis' 

"  De  Imitatione  Christi. "     2nd  Edition. 

"  Could  not  be  presented  in  a  more  exquisite  form,  for  a  more  sightly  volume  was 
never  seen." — Illustrated  London  News. 

Familiar  Words.  An  Index  Verborum,  or  Quotation  Hand- 
book. Affording  an  immediate  Reference  to  Phrases  and  Sentences 
that  have  become  embedded  in  the  English  language.  4th  and 
enlarged  Edition.     6s. 

"The  most  extensive  dictionary  of  quotation  we  have  met  with." — Notes  and 
Queries. 

Essays  by  Montaigne.  Edited  and  Annotated  by  the  Author 
of  "The  Gentle  Life."     With  Portrait.     2nd  Edition. 

"  We  should  be  glad  if  any  words  of  ours  could  help  to  bespeak  a  large  circula- 
tion for  this  handsome  attractive  book." — Illustrated  Tunes. 

The  Countess  of  Pembroke's  Arcadia.     Written  by  Sir  Philip 
Sidney.     Edited  with  Notes  by  Author  of  "The  Gentle  Life."    Js.  6d. 
"All  the  best  things  are  retained  intact  in  Mr.  Friswell's  edition." — Examiner. 

The  Gentle  Life.     2nd  Series,  8th  Edition. 

"  There  is  not  a  single  thought  in  the  volume  that  does  not  contribute  in  some 
measure  to  the  formation  of  a  true  gentleman." — Daily  News. 

The  Silent   Hour:    Essays,    Original   and  Selected.     By    the 
Author  of  "The  Gentle  Life."     3rd  Edition. 
"All  who  possess  'The  Gentle  Life  '  should  own  this  volume.'' — Standard. 

Half-Length  Portraits.  Short  Studies  of  Notable  Persons. 
By  J.  Hain  Friswell. 

Essays    on   English     JVriters,    for    the    Self-improvement    of 

Students  in  English  Literature. 

"  To  all  who  have  neglected  to  read  and  study  their  native  literature  we  would 
certainly  suggest  the  volume  before  us  as  a  fitting  introduction."- — Examiner. 

Other  People's  Windows.     By  J.  Hain  Friswell.     3rd  Edition. 

"The  chapters  are  so  lively  in  themselves,  so  mingled  with  shrewd  views  of 
human  nature,  so  full  of  illustrative  anecdotes,  that  the  reader  cannot  fail  to  be 
amused. " — Mot  ning  Post. 

A  Man's  Thoughts.     By  J.  Hain  Friswell. 


German  Primer.     Being   an   Introduction  to    First  Steps  in 
German.     By  M.  T.  Preu.     2s.  6d. 

Getting  On  in  the   World ;  or,  Hints  on  Success  in  Life.     By 

W.  Mathews,  LL.D.  Small  post  Svo,  cloth,  2s.  6d. ;  gilt  edges,  3.5-.  6d. 

Gilpin's   Forest  Scenery.      Edited  by  F.   G.   Heath.      Large 

post  8vo,  with   numerous   Illustrations.     Uniform  with    "The    Fern 
World,"  12s.  6d.     In  6  monthly  parts,  2s.  each. 


12  Sampson  Low,  Marsion,  &  Co.'s 

Gordon  {J.  E.  If.).  See  "  Four  Lectures  on  Electric  Induc- 
tion," "  Physical  Treatise  on  Electricity,"  &c. 

Gouffe.  The  Royal  Cookery  Book.  By  Jules  Gouffe  ;  trans- 
lated and  adapted  for  English  use  by  Alphonse  Gouffe,  Head 
Pastrycook  to  her  Majesty  the  Queen.  Illustrated  with  large  plates 
printed  in  colours.     161  Woodcuts,  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  2/.  2s. 

Domestic  Edition,  half-bound,  ios.6d. 

"  By  far  the  ablest  and  most  complete  work  on  cookery  that  has  ever  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  gastronomical  world." — Pail  Mali  Lazette. 

Great  Artists.     See  "  Biographies." 

Great  Historic  Galleries  of  England  (The).  Edited  by  Lord 
Ronald  Gower,  F.S.A.,  Trustee  of  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 
Illustrated  by  24  large  and  carefully-executed  permanent  Photographs 
of  some  of  the  most  celebrated  Pictures  by  the  Great  Masters.  Imperial 
4to,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  36.C 

Great  Musicians  {The).  A  Series  of  Biographies  of  the  Great 
Musicians.     Edited  by  F   IIueffer. 


5.  Rossini,  and  the  Modern  Italian 

School.     By  H.  Sutherland 
Edwards. 

6.  Marcello.     By  Arrigo  Boito. 

7.  Purcell.    By  II.  W.  CUiM.mings. 


1.  Wagner.     By  the  Editor. 

2.  "Weber.       By    Sir   Julius 

Benedict. 

3.  Mendelssohn.     By  JOSEPH 

Bennett. 

4.  Schubert.   By  IT.  F.  Frost. 
*#*  Dr.   Hiller  and  other  distinguished  writers,  both   English  and 

Foreign,  have  promised  contributions.  Each  Volume  is  complete  in 
itself.     Small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  y. 

G::izofs  History  of  Trance.     Translated  by  Robert   Black. 

Super-royal  8vo,  very  numerous  Full-page  and  other  Illustrations.  li> 
8  vols.,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  each  24s. 

"  It  supplies  a  want  which  has  long  been   felt,  and  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  all 
students  of  history." — Times. 

Jlfasson's  School  Edition.      The 

History  of  France  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Outbreak  of  the 
Revolution;  abridged  from  the  Translation  by  Robert  Black,  M.A., 
with  Chronological  Index,  Historical  and  Genealogical  Tables,  &c. 
By  Professor  GUSTAVE  Masson,  B.  A.,  Assistant  Master  at  Harrow 
School.  With  24  full-page  Portraits,  and  many  other  Illustrations. 
I  vol.,  demy  8vo,  600  pp.,  cloth  extra,  10s.  6rf. 

Guizofs  History  of  England.    In  3  vols,  of  about  500  pp.  each, 

containing  60  to  70  Pull-page  and  other  Illustrations,  cloth  extra,  gilt, 
24?.  each. 

"  For  luxury  of  typography,  plainness  of  print,  and  beauty  of  illustration,  these 
volumes,  of  whii  1)   bill    one-   h.is  as  yet  appeared  in    English,   will   hold   then 

,11  .1  any  production  of  an  age  so  luxurious  as  our  own  in  everything,  typography 
u  ,t  e»  epted."  - Timet. 

Guyon  (Aide.)  Life.     By  Upham.     6th  Edition,  crown  8vo,  6s. 


List  of  Publications.  1 3 


ZJTAArDBOOK  to  the  Charities  of  London.     See  Low's. 

of  Embroidery  ;  which  see. 

to  the  Principal  Schools  of  England.     See  Practical. 


Half-Hours  of  Blind  Man's  Holiday  ;  or,  Summer  and  Winter 

Sketches  in  Black  and  White.     By  W.  W.  Fenn,  Author  of  "After 

Sundown,"  &c.     2  vols.,  cr.  8vo,  2^. 
Hall  (IF.  IF.)  How  to  Live  Long;  or,   1408  Health  Maxims, 

Physical,    Mental,    and   Moral.       By   W.    W.    Hall,    A.M.,    M.D. 

Small  post  8vo,  cloth,  2s.     Second  Edition. 
LLaus  Brinker ;  or,  the  Silver  Skates.     See  Dodge. 
Harper's  Monthly  Magazine.     Published  Monthly.     160  pages, 

fully  Illustrated,     is.     With  two  Serial  Novels  by  celebrated  Authors. 

'  '  Harper's  Magazine  '  is  so  thickly  sown  with  excellent  illustrations  that'to  count 
them  would  be  a  worn  of  time  ;  not  that  it  is  a  picture  magazine,  for  the  engravings 
illustrate  the  text  after  the  manner  seen  in  some  of  our  choicest  editions  de  luxe." — 
St.  James's  Gazette. 

"  It  is  so  pretty,  so  big,  and  so  cheap.  .  .  .  An  extraordinary  shillingsworth — 
160  large  octavo  pages,  with  over  a  score  of  articles,  and  more  than  three  times  as 
many  illustrations." — Edinburgh  Daily  Review. 

"  An  amazing  shillingsworth  .  .  .  combining  choice  literature  of  both  nations." — 
Nonconformist. 

Heart  of  Africa.  Three  Years'  Travels  and  Adventures  in  the 
Unexplored  Regions  of  Central  Africa,  from  1868  to  1871.  By  Dr. 
Georg  Schweinfurth.  Numerous  Illustrations,  and  large  Map. 
2  vols.,  crown  8vo,  cloth,  15.C 

Heath  {Erancis  George).  See  "Fern  World,"  "Fern  Paradise," 
"Our  Woodland  Trees,"  "Trees  and  Ferns,"  "Gilpin's  Forest 
Scenery,"  "  Burnham  Beeches,"  "Sylvan  Spring,"  &c. 

Heber's  (Bishop)  Lllust rated  Edition  of  Hymns.  With  upwards 
of  100  beautiful  Engravings.  Small  4to,  handsomely  bound,  "]s.  6d. 
Morocco,  iSs.  6d.  and2U.     An  entirely  New  Edition. 

Heir  of  Kilfinnan  (The).    New  Story  by  W.  H.  G.  Kingston, 

Author  of  "  Snow  Shoes  and  Canoes,"  &c.  With  Illustrations.  Cloth, 
gilt  edges,  7^.  6d.  ;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  $s. 

History  and  Handbook  of  Photography.  Translated  from  the 
French  of  Gaston  Tissandier.  Edited  by  J.  Thomson.  Imperial 
i6mo,  over  300  pages,  70  Woodcuts,  and  Specimens  of  Prints  by  the 
best  Permanent  Processes.  Second  Edition,  with  an  Appendix  by 
the  late  Mr.  Henry  Fox  Talbot.     Cloth  extra,  6s. 

History  of  a  Crime  (The)  ;  Deposition  of  an  Eye-witness.  Ey 
Victor  Hugo.    4  vols.,  crown  8vo,  42^.     Cheap  Edition,  1  vol.,  6s. 

Ancient  Art.     Translated  from  the  German  of  John 

Winckelmann,  by  John  Lodge,  M.D.  With  very  numerous 
Plates  and  Illustrations.     2  vols.,  Svo,  36^, 

England.     See  Guizot. 

Trance.     See  Guizot. 


14  Sampson  Low,  Marston,  6°  Co.'s 

History  of  Russia.     See  Ram  baud. 

Merchant  Shipping.     See  Lindsay. 

United  States.     See  Bryant. 

History  and  Principles  of  JVeaving  by  Hand  and  by  Porcer.  With 
several  hundred  Illustrations.  By  Alfred  Barlow.  Royal  8vo, 
cloth  extra,  \l.  5.r.     Second  Edition. 

How  I  Crossed  Africa  :  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Indian  Ocean, 
Through  Unknown  Countries  ;  Discovery  of  the  Great  Zambesi 
Affluents,  &c— Vol.  I.,  The  King's  Rifle.  Vol.  II.,  The  Coillard 
Family.  By  Major  Serpa  Pinto.  With  24  full-page  and  118  half- 
page  and  smaller  Illustrations,  13  small  Maps,  and  1  large  one. 
2  vols.,  demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  42^. 

How  to  Live  Long.     See  Hall. 

How  to  get  Strong  and  how  to  Stay  so.     By  William  Blaikie. 

A  Manual  of  Rational,    Physical,   Gymnastic,    and    other    Exercises. 

With  Illustrations,  small  post  Svo,  5^. 
Hugo   {Victor)    "Ninety-Three."      Illustrated.     Crown  8vo,  6*. 
Toilers  of  the  Sea.     Crown  8vo.     Illustrated,  6s. ;  fancy 

boards,   2s.  ;   cloth,   2s.   6d.  ;   On  large  paper  with  all  the   original 

Illustrations,  ior.  6d. 

.     See  "  History  of  a  Crime." 

Hundred  Greatest  Men  {The).  8  portfolios,  21s.  each,  or  4 
vols.,  half  morocco,  gilt  edges,  12  guineas,  containing  15  to  20 
Portraits  each.     See  below. 

"Messrs.  Sampson  Low  &  Co  are  about  to  issue  an  important  'International' 
work,  entitled,  'THE  HUNDRED  GREATEST  MEN:'  being  the  Lives  and 
Portraits  of  the  too  Greatest  Men  of  History,  divided  into  Eight  Classes,  each  Class 
to  form  a  Monthly  Quarto  Volume.  The  I  ntroductions  to  the  volumes  are  to  be 
written  by  recognized  authorities  on  the  different  subjects,  the  English  contributors 
being  Dean  Stanley,  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold,  Mr.  FrouDE,  and  Professor  Max 
Mi  ukr:  in  Germany,  Professor  Helmholtz;  in  France,  MM.  Taine  and 
Renan ;  and  in  America,  Mr.  Emerson.  The  Portraits  are  to  be  Reproductions 
from  fine  and  rare  Steel  Engravings." — Academy. 

Hygiene  and  Public  Health  {A  Treatise  on).     Edited  by  A.  H. 

Buck,    M.D.      Illustrated   by   numerous    Wood   Engravings.     In    2 

royal  Svo  vols.,  cloth,  one  guinea  each. 
Hymnal     Companion     to    Book     of    Common     Prayer.       See 

BlCKERSTETH. 


TLLUSTRATRD  Text-Books  of  Art-Education.     Edited  by 

■*■  EDWARD  J.  I'oynter,  R.  A.  Each  Volume  contains  numerous  Illus- 
trations, and  is  strongly  bound  for  the  use  of  Students,  price  5.?.  The 
Volumes  now  ready  are  : — 

TAINTING. 


Classic  and  Italian.     By  Percy 
R.  Head.     With  50  Illustrations, 

Ss. 


German,  Flemish,  and  Dutch. 
French  and  Spanish. 
English  and  American. 


List  of  Publications.  1 5 

Illustrated  Text-Books  (continued.) : — 

ARCHITECTURE. 

Classic  and  Early  Christian. 

Gothic  and  Renaissance.     By  T.   Roger  Smith.     With  50  Illustra- 
tions, $s. 

SCULPTURE. 
Antique :  Egyptian  and  Greek.    |  Renaissance  and  Modern. 

ORNAMENT. 

Decoration  in  Colour.  |  Architectural  Ornament. 

Illustrations  of  China  and  its  People.  By  J.  Thompson, 
F.R.G.  S.     Four  Volumes,  imperial  4to,  each  3/.  3^. 

///  my  Indian  Garden.  By  Phil  Robinson,  Author  of  "  Under 
the  Punkah."  With  a  Preface  by  Edwin  Arnold,  M.A.,  C.S.I.,  &c. 
Crown  8vo,  limp  cloth,  y.  6d. 

Involuntary  Voyage  (An).  Showing  how  a  Frenchman  who 
abhorred  the  Sea  was  most  unwillingly  and  by  a  series  of  accidents 
driven  round  the  World.  Numerous  Illustrations.  Square  crown 
8vo,  cloth  extra,  Js.  6d. ;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  5-?- 

Irish  Bar.  Comprising  Anecdotes,  Bon-Mots,  and  Bio- 
graphical Sketches  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  Ireland.  By  J.  Roderick 
O'Flanagan,  Barrister-at-Law.     Crown  Svo,  \2s.     Second  Edition. 

Irish  Land  Question,  and  English  Public  Opinion  (The).  With 
a  Supplement  on  Griffith's  Valuation.  By  R.  Barry  O'Brien, 
Author  of  "  The  Parliamentary  History  of  the  Irish  Land  Question." 
Fcap.  8vo,  cloth,  2s. 

Irving  (  Washington).    Complete  Library  Edition  of  his  Works 

in  27  Vols.,  Copyright,  Unabridged,  and  with  the  Author's  Latest 
Revisions,  called  the  "  Geoffrey  Crayon"  Edition,  handsomely  printed 
in  large  square  Svo,  on  superfine  laid  paper,  and  each  volume,  of 
about  500  pages,  will  be  fully  Illustrated.  \2s.  6d.  per  vol.  See  also 
"Little  Britain." 

<>£ACK  and  yill.     By  Miss  Alcott.     Small  post  Svo,  cloth, 

.y        gilt  edges,  5^.     With  numerous  Illustrations. 

John  Holdsworth,  Chief  Mate.  By  W.  Clarke  Russell, 
Author  of  "  Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor."     Crown  Svo,  6s. 


vol.,  with  very  numerous  Illustrations,  square  crown  i6mo,  gilt  edges, 
7-r.  6d.;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  $s. 


1 6  Sampson  Low,  Marston,  6^  Co.'s 


A DY  Silverdale's  Sweetheart.     6s.     See  Black. 


L 

Lenten  Meditations.  In  Two  Series,  each  complete  in  itself. 
By  the  Rev.  Claude  Bosanquet,  Author  of  "Blossoms  from  the 
King's  Garden."     i6mo,  cloth,  First  Series,  is.  6d.  ;  Second  Series,  2s. 

Library  of  Religious  Poetry.  A  Collection  of  the  Best  Poems 
of  all  Ages  and  Tongues.  With  Biographical  and  Literary  Notes. 
Edited  by  Philip  Schaff,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  and  Arthur  Oilman, 
M.A.      Royal  8vo,  pp.  1036,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  i\s. 

L.ife  and  Letters  of  the  Honourable  Charles  Sumner  (The). 
2  vols.,  royal  8vo,  cloth.    Second  Edition,  36^. 

Lindsay  (JV.  S.)  History  of  Merchant  Shipping  and  Ancient 
Commerce.  Over  150  Illustrations,  Maps,  and  Charts.  In  4  vols., 
demy  Svo,  cloth  extra.     Vols.  I  and  2,  2is.  ;  vols.  3  and  4,  245.  each. 

Little  Britain  ;  together  with  The  Spectre  Bridegroom,  and  A 
Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow.  By  Washington  Irving.  An  entirely 
New  Edition  de  luxe,  specially  suitable  for  Presentation.  Illustrated 
by  120  very  fine  Engravings  on  Wood,  by  Mr.  J.  D.  Cooper. 
Designed  by  Mr.  Charles  O.  Murray.  Square  crown  8vo,  cloth 
extra,  gilt  edges,  ior.  6</. 

Little  King ;  or,  the  Taming  of  a  Young  Russian  Count.  By 
S.  Blandy.  64  Illustrations.  Crown  Svo,  gilt  edges,  Js.  6d.  ;  plainer 
binding,  $s. 

Little  Mercy  ;  or,  For  Better  for  Worse.  By  Maude  Jeanne 
Franc,  Author  of  "Marian,"  "Vermont  Vale,"  &c,  &c.  Small 
post  Svo,  cloth  extra,  4s.     Second  Edition. 

Lost  SirMassingberd.  New  Edition,  crown  Svo,  boards,  coloured 

wrapper,  2s. 

Lo7V,s  German  Series — 

1.  The  Illustrated  German  Primer.    Being  the  easiest  introduction 

to  the  study  of  German  for  all  beginners,      is. 

2.  The  Children's  own  German  Book.     A  Selection  of  Amusing 

and  Instructive  Stories  in  Prose.    Edited  by  Dr.  A.  L.  Meissner. 
Small  post  Svo,  cloth,  U.  6d. 

3.  The    First    German    Reader,    for    Children    from    Ten    to 

Fourteen.     Edited  by  Dr.    A.   L.   MEISSNER.      Small  post  Svo, 
cloth,  is.  Gd. 

4.  The  Second  German  Reader.     Edited  by  Dr.  A.  L.  Meissner. 

Small  post  Svo,  cloth,  is.  6d. 

Buchheitr? s  Deutsche  Prosa.      Two  Volumes,  sold  separately  :  — 

5.  Schiller's  Prosa.     Containing  Selections  from  the  Prose  Works 

of  Schiller,  with  Notes  for  English  Students.    By  Dr.  Buchheim. 

Small  post  Svo,  2S.  <>i. 

6.  Goethe's  Prosa.     Selections  from   the   Prose  Works   of  Goethe, 

with    N'ut'-s  for   English  Students.      By   Dr.    BUCHHEIM.     Small 
post  Svo,  3-f.  6d. 


List  of  Publications.  1 7 


Low's    International    Scries   of    Toy   Books.      6d.    each ;    or 
Mounted  on  Linen,  is. 

1.  Little  Fred  and  his  Fiddle,   from  Asbjornsen's  "Norwegian 

Fairy  Tales." 

2.  The  Lad  and  the  North  Wind,  ditto. 

3.  The  Pancake,  ditto. 

4.  The    Little    Match    Girl,    from  H.    C.    Andersen's    "  Danish 

Fairy  Tales." 

5.  The  Emperor's  New  Clothes,  ditto. 

6.  The  G-allant  Tin  Soldier,  ditto. 

The  above  in  1  vol.,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  with  the  whole  36 
Coloured  Illustrations,  §s. 


Lore's  Standard  Library  of  Travel  and  Adventure.     Crown  8vo, 
bound  uniformly  in  cloth  extra,  price  "js.  6J. 

1.  The  Great  Lone  Land.     By  Major  W.  F.  BUTLER,  C.B. 

2.  The  Wild  North  Land.     By  Major  W.  F.  Butler,  C.B. 

3.  How  I  found  Living-stone.    By  H.  M.  Stanley. 

4.  The  Threshold  of  the  Unknown  Region.     By  C.  R.  Mark- 

HAM.     (4th  Edition,  with  Additional  Chapters,  ids.  6d.) 

5.  A  Whaling  Cruise  to  Baffin's  Bay  and  the  Gulf  of  Boothia. 

By  A.  H.  Markham. 

6.  Campaigning  on  the  Oxus.     By  J.  A.  MacGahan. 

7.  Akim-foo  :    the  History  of  a  Failure.      By  Major   W.    F. 

Butler,  C.B. 

8.  Ocean  to   Ocean.     By   the    Rev.    George   M.    Grant.     With 

Illustrations. 

9.  Cruise  of  the  Challenger.     By  W.  J.  J.  Spry,  R.N. 

10.  Sehweinfurth's  Heart  of  Africa.     2  vols.,  l$s. 

11.  Through  the  Dark  Continent.     By  H.  M.  Stanley,      i  vol., 

12 s.  6d. 

Low's  Standard  Novels.     Crown  8vo,  6s.  each,  cloth  extra. 

My  Lady  Greensleeves.  By  Helen  Mathers,  Authoress  of 
"  Comin'  through  the  Rye,"  "  Cherry  Ripe,"  &c. 

Three  Feathers.     By  William  Black. 

A  Daughter  of  Heth.  13th  Edition.  By  W.  BLACK.  With 
Frontispiece  by  F.  Walker,  A.  R.A. 

Kilmeny.     A  Novel.     By  W.  Black. 

In  Silk  Attire.     By  W.  Black. 

Lady  Silverdale's  Sweetheart.    By  W.  Bi.ACK. 

History  of  a  Crime:  The  Story  of  the  Coup  d'Etat.  By  Victor 
Hugo. 


1 8  Sampson  Low,  Mars  ton,  6°  Co.'s 

Louis  Standard  Novels  {continued) : — 

Alice  Lorraine.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

Lorna  Doone.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore.    8th  Edition. 

Cradock  Nowell.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

Clara  Vaughan.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

Cripps  the  Carrier.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

Erema ;  or,  My  Father's  Sin.     By  R.  D.  BLACKMORE. 

Mary  Anerley.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

Innocent.     By  Mrs.  Oliphant.     Eight  Illustrations. 

"Work.  A  Story  of  Experience.  By  Louisa  M.  Alcott.  Illustra- 
tions.    See  also  Rose  Library. 

The  Afghan  Knife.     By  R.  A.  STERNDALE,  Author  of  "Seonee." 

A  French  Heiress  in  her  own  Chateau.  By  the  Author  of 
"One  Only,"  "  Constantia,"  &c.     Six  Illustrations. 

Ninety-Three.     By  Victor  Hugo.     Numerous  Illustrations. 

My  Wife  and  I.     By  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe. 

Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor.     By  W.  CLARK  RUSSELL. 

John  Holds-worth  (Chief  Mate).     By  W.  Clark  Russell. 

Elinor  Dryden.     By  Mrs.  Macquoid. 

Diane.     By  Mrs.  Macquoid. 

Poganuc  People,  Their  Loves  and  Lives.  By  Mrs.  Beecher 
Stowe. 

A  Golden  Sorrow.     By  Mrs.  Cashel  Hoey. 

A  Story  of  the  Dragonnades ;  or,  Asylum  Christi.  By  the  Rev. 
E.  Gilliat,  M.A. 

Lo7cis  Handbook  to  the  Charities  of  London.  Edited  and 
revised  to  date  by  C.  Mackeson,  F.S.S.,  Editor  of  "A  Guide  to  the 
Churches  of  London  and  its  Suburbs,"  &c.     Taper,  is.  ;  cloth,  is.  bd. 

]\  f ACQ  ALLAN  {J.  A.)  Campaigning  on  the  Oxus,  and  the 
■*■'■*■      Fall  of  Khiva.     With  Map  and  numerous  Illustrations,  41I1  Edition, 
small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  Js.  6a. 

Macgregor  (John)   "Rob  Roy"   on   the  Baltic.     3rd  Edition, 

small  post  Svo,  2s.  6d.  ;  cloth,  gilt  edges,  y.  6J. 

A    Thousand  Miles   in  the  "Rob  Roy"    Canoe,     nth 

Edition,  small  post  8vo,  2s.  6d.  ;  cloth,  gilt  edges,  y.  6J. 

Description  of  the    "  Rob   Roy"    Canoe,  with    Elans, 


&c,  IS. 

The    Voyage  Alone  in    the   Yawl  "Rob   Roy."      New 

Edition,    thoroughly   revised,    with   additions,    small    post   Svo,    Ss-  '< 
boards,  2s.  Oct. 


List  of  Publications.  i  9 


Mackenzie  (D.)  The  Flooding  of  the  Sahara.  By  Donald 
Mackenzie.     Svo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  10s.  6d. 

Macquoid (Mrs.)  Elinor  Dry  den.     Crown  8vo,  cloth,  6s. 

Diane.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

Magazine.     See  Harper. 

Markham  (C.  R.)  The  Threshold  of  the  Unknown  Region. 
Crown  Svo,  with  Four  Maps,   4th  Edition.     Cloth  extra,  \os.  6d. 

Maury  (Commander)  Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea,  and  its 

Meteorology.     Being  a  Reconstruction  and  Enlargement  of  his  formei 
Work,  with  Charts  and  Diagrams.     New  Edition,  crown  Svo,  6s. 

Memoirs  of  Count  Miot  de  Melito.     2  vols.,  demy  8vo,  365. 

Memoirs  of  Madame  de  Remusat,  1802 — 1808.  By  her  Grand- 
son, M.  Paul  de  Remusat,  Senator.  Translated  by  Mrs.  Cashel 
Hoey  and  Mr.  John  Lillie.  4th  Edition,  cloth  extra.  This 
work  was  written  by  Madame  de  Remusat  during  the  time  she 
was  living  on  the  most  intimate  terms  with  the  Empress  Josephine, 
and  is  full  of  revelations  respecting  the  private  life  of  Bonaparte,  and 
of  men  and  politics  of  the  first  years  of  the  century.  Revelations 
which  have  already  created  a  great  sensation  in  Paris.    Svo,  2  vols.,  32^. 

Menus  (366,  one  for  each  day  of  the  year).  Translated  from  the 
French  of  Count  Brisse,  by  Mrs.  Matthew  Clarke.  Crown 
Svo,  lew.  6d. 

Men  of  Mark  :  a  Gallery  of  Contemporary  Portraits  of  the  most 
Eminent  Men  of  the  Day  taken  from  Life,  especially  for  this  publica- 
tion, price  is.  6d.  monthly.  Vols.  I.,  II. ,  III.,  IV.,  and  V.,  hand- 
somely bound,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  25^.  each. 

Mendelssohn  Family  (The).  Translated  from  the  German  of 
E.  Bock.     Demy  8vo,  \bs. 

Michael  Strogoff.     \os.  6d.  and  5 s.     See  Verne. 

Mitford  (Miss).     See  "  Our  Village." 

Military  Maxims.  By  Captain  B.  Terling.  Medium  i6mo, 
in  roan  case,  with  pencil  for  the  pocket,  10s.  6d. 

Mountain  and  Prairie :  a  Journey  from  Victoria  to  Winnipeg, 
via  Peace  River  Pass.  By  the  Rev.  Daniel  M.  Gordon,  B.D., 
Ottawa.  Small  post  Svo,  with  Maps  and  Illustrations,  cloth  extra, 
S.r.  6d. 

Music.     See  "Great  Musicians." 

My  Lady  Greensleeves.  By  Helen  Mathers,  Authoress  of 
"  Comin5  through  the  Rye,"  "Cherry  Ripe,"  &c.  1  vol.  edition, 
crown  Svo,  cloth,  6s. 


20  Sampson  Low,  Marston,  &•  Co.'s 

Mysterious  Island.    By  Jules  Verne.    3  vols.,  imperial  i6mo. 

150  Illustrations,  cloth  gilt,  3.C  6d.  eacli  ;  elaborately  bound,  gilt 
edges,  "js.  6d.  each.  Cheap  Edition,  with  some  of  the  Illustrations, 
cloth,  gilt,  2s. ;  paper,  is.  each. 


JVFATIONAL  Music  of  the  World.     By  the  late  Henry  F. 
■^  "       Chorley.    Edited  by  H.  G.  Hewlett.     Crown  8vo,  cloth,  8s.  bJ. 

Naval  Brigade  in  South  Africa  {The).  By  Henry  F.  Nor- 
bury,  C.B.,  R.N.     Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  ioj.  6d. 

New  Child's  Play  (A).  Sixteen  Drawings  by  E.  V.  B.  Beauti- 
fully printed  in  colours,  4to,  cloth  extra;  12s.  6d. 

New  Guinea  (A  Few  Months  in).  By  Octavius  C.  Stone, 
F.R.G.S.  With  numerous  Illustrations  from  the  Author's  own 
Drawings.     Crown  8vo,  cloth,  12s. 

What  I  did  and  what  I  saw.     By  L.  M.  D'Albertis, 

Officer  of  the  Order  of  the  Crown  of  Italy,  Honorary  Member  and 
Gold  Medallist  of  the  I.R.GS.,  C.M.Z.S.,  &c,  &c.  In  2  vols., 
demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Maps,  Coloured  Plates,  and  numerous 
very  fine  Woodcut  Illustrations,  42^. 

New  Ireland.  By  A.  M.  Sullivan,  M.P.  for  Louth.  2  vols., 
demy  8vo,  305.     Cheaper  Edition,  1  vol.,  crown  Svo,  &s.  6d. 

New  Novels.     Crown  Svo,  cloth,  10s.  6d.  per  vol.  : — 

Mary  Marston.    By  George  MacDonai.d.    3  vols.    Third  Edition 

Sarah  de  Berangrer.     By  Jean  Ingelow.     3  vols. 

Don  John.     By  Jean  Ingelow.     3  vols. 

Sunrise  :  A  Story  of  these  Times.     By  William  Black.     3  vols. 

A  Sailor's  Sweetheart.     By  W.  Clark  Russell,  Author  of  "  The 

Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor,"  "John  Holdsworth,"  &c.      3  vols. 
Lisa  Lena.      By   Edward  Jknkins,    Author  of  "Ginx's  Baby.' 

2  vols. 

A  Plot  of  the  Present  Day.     By  Kate  Hope.     3  vols. 

Black  Abbey.     By   M.    Crommelin,    Author   of    "Queenie,"  &c. 

3  vols. 

Flower  o'  the  Broom.      By  the  Author  of  "Rare  Bale  Margaret,'' 

3  vols. 
The  Grandidiers  :   A  Tale  of  Berlin.     Translated  from  the  German 

by  Captain  Wm.  Savile.     3  vols. 
Errant:  A  Eife  Story  of  Latter-Day  Chivalry.     By  Percy  Greg, 

Author  of  "Across  the  Zodiac,"  «.Vc.     3  vols. 
Fancy  Free.     By  C.  GIBBON.      3  vols. 
The  Stillwater  Tragedy.     By  J    J!.  ALDRICH. 
Prince    Fortune    and    Prince    Fatal.       By    Mrs.    Carrington, 

Author  of  "  My  Cousin  Maurice,"  &c.      3  vols. 


Lis t  of  Publications.  2 1 


New  Novels  {continued)  : — 

An  English   Squire.     By  C.   B.  Coleridge,   Author  of   "Lady 

Betty,"  ' '  Hanbury  Wills,"  &c.     3  vols. 
Christowell.     By  R.  D.  Blackmore.     3  vols. 
Mr.  Caroli.     By  Miss  Seguin.     3  vols. 
David  Broome,  Artist.     By  Miss  O'REILLY.     3  vols. 
Braes  of  Yarrow.     By  Chas.  Gibbon.     3  vols. 

Nice  and  Her  Neighbours.  By  the  Rev.  Canon  Hole,  Author 
of  "  A  Book  about  Roses,"  "  A  Little  Tour  in  Ireland,"  &c.  Small 
4to,  with  numerous  choice  Illustrations,  \2s.  6d. 

Noble  Words  and  Noble  Deeds.  From  the  French  of  E.  Muller. 
Containing  many  Full-page  Illustrations  by  Philippoteaux.  Square 
imperial  ibmo,  cloth  extra,  7-r.  6d.  ;  plainer  binding,  plain  edges,  55. 

North  American  Revieiv  {The).     Monthly,  price  2s.  6d. 

Nothing  to   Wear ;  and  Two  Millions.     By   W.   A.   Butler. 

New  Edition.     Small  post  8vo,  in  stiff  coloured  wrapper,  is. 

Nursery  Playmates  {Prince  of ).  217  Coloured  pictures  for 
Children  by  eminent  Artists.     Folio,  in  coloured  boards,  6s. 


QBERAMMERGAU   Passion   Play.      See   "Art   in    the 

^         Mountains."  * 

O'Brien.  See  "  Parliamentary  History  "  and  "  Irish  Land 
Question." 

Old-Fashioned  Girl.     See  Alcott. 

On  Horseback  through  Asia  Minor.     By  Capt.  Fred  Burnaby, 

Royal  Horse  Guards,  Author  of  "A  Ride  to  Khiva."  2  vols., 
8vo,  with  three  Maps  and  Portrait  of  Author,  6th  Edition,  38.5-.  j 
Cheaper  Edition,  crown  8vo,  10s.  6d. 

Our  Little  Ones  in  Heaven.  Edited  by  the  Rev.  H.  Robbins. 
With  Frontispiece  after  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  Fcap.,  cloth  extra, 
New  Edition — the  3rd,  with  Illustrations,  $s. 

Our  Village.     By  Mary  Russell  Mitford.     Illustrated  with 

Frontispiece  Steel  Engraving,  and  12  full-page  and  157  smaller  Cuts 
of  Figure  Subjects  and  Scenes.     Crown  4to,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  21s. 

Our   Woodland  Trees.     By  F.  G.    Heath.     Large  post  8vo, 

cloth,  gilt  edges,  uniform  with  "Fern  World"  and  "Fern  Paradise," 
by  the  same  Author.  8  Coloured  Plates  (showing  leaves  of  every 
British  Tree)  and  20  Woodcuts,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  12s.  6d.  Third 
Edition. 


22  Sampson  Low,  Marsion,  &  Co.'s 

DA  INTERS  of  All  Schools.     By  Louis  Viardot,  and  other 

■*  Writers.  500  pp.,  super-royal  Svo,  20  Full-page  and  70  smaller 
Engravings,  cloth  extra,  25J.  A  New  Edition  is  issued  in  Half- 
crown  parts,  with  fifty  additional  portraits,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  315.  6d. 

Painting  [A  Short  History  of  the  British  School  of).  By 
Geo.  H.  Shepherd.     Post  Svo,  cloth,  3.5-.  6d. 

Palliser  (Mrs.)  A  History  of  Lace,  from  the  Earliest  Period. 
A  New  and  Revised  Edition,  with  additional  cuts  and  text,  upwards 
of  100  Illustrations  and  coloured  Designs.      1  vol.,  Svo,  1/.  if. 

Historic  Devices,  Badges,  and  War  Cries.     Svo,  \l.  \s. 

The  China  Collector's  Pocket  Companion.  With  up- 
wards of  1000  Illustrations  of  Marks  and  Monograms.  2nd  Edition, 
with  Additions.     Small  post  Svo,  limp  cloth,  5^. 

Parliamentary  History  of the  Irish  La  fid  Question  {The).  From 
1829  to  1869,  and  the  Origin  and  Results  of  the  Ulster  Custom.  By 
R.  Barry  O'Brien,  Barrister-at-Law,  Author  of  "The  Irish  Land 
Question  and  English  Public  Opinion."  3rd  Edition,  corrected  and 
revised,  with  additional  matter.      Post  Svo,  cloth  extra,  6j-. 

The  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  GLADSTONE,  M.P.,  in  a  Letter  to  the  Author,  says:— 
"I  thank  you  for  kindly  sending  me  your  work,  and  I  hope  that  the  sad  and  dis- 
creditable story  which  you  have  told  so  well  in  your  narrative  of  the  Iri>h  Land 
Question  may  be  useful  at  a  period  when  we  have  more  than  ever  of  reason  to  desire 
that  it  should  be  thoroughly  understood." 

Pathways  of  Palestine  :  a  Descriptive  Tour  through  the  Holy 
Land.  By  the  Rev.  Canon  TRISTRAM.  Illustrated  with  44  per- 
manent Photographs.  (The  Photographs  are  large,  and  most  perfect 
Specimens  of  the  Art.)  Published  in  22  Monthly  rails,  4to,  in 
Wrapper,  2s.  6d.  each. 

"...  The  Photographs  which  illustrate  these  pages  may  justly  claim,  as  works 
of  art,  to  be  the  most  admirably  executed  views  which  have  been  produced.  .  .  . 

"As  the  writer  is  on  the  point  of  making  a  fourth  visit  of  exploration  to  the 
country,  any  new  discoveries  which  come  under  observation  will  be  at  once  incor- 
porated in  this  work." 

Peasant  Life  in  the  West  of  England.  By  Francis  Georgf. 
HEATH,  Author  of  "Sylvan  Spring,"  "The  Fern  World."  Crown 
Svo,  about  350  pp.,  IO.T.  6d. 

Pelilrs  Leqons  de  Conversation  et  de  Gram  ma  ire :  Oral  and 
Conversational  Method  ;  being  Lessons  introducing  the  most  Useful 
Topics  of  Conversation,  upon  an  entirely  new  principle,  &c.  Hy 
I'.  Julien,  French  Master  at  King  Edward  the  Sixth's  School, 
Birmingham.     Author  of  "The  Student's  French  Examiner,"  "  First 

Steps  in  Conversational  French  Grammar,"  which  see. 

]'h Mips    (/..)    Dictionary    of  Biographical   Reference.      Svo, 

l/.   1 1  J.  (yd. 
Photography  {History  and  Handbook  of).     See  Tissandier. 


List  of  Publications.  23 


Physical  Treatise  on  Electricity  and  Magnetism.  By  J.  E.  II. 
Gordon,  B.  A.  With  about  200  coloured,  full-page,  and  other 
Illustrations.  Among  the  newer  portions  of  the  work  may  be 
enumerated  :  All  the  more  recent  investigations  on  Stria;  by  Spottis- 
woode,  De  la  Rue,  Moulton,  &c,  an  account  of  Mr.  Crooke's  recent 
researches  ;  full  descriptions  and  pictures  of  all  the  modern  Magnetic- 
Survey  Instruments  now  used  at  Kew  Observatory  ;  full  accounts  of 
all  the  modern  work  on  Specific  Inductive  Capacity,  and  of  the  more 
recent  determination  of  the  ratio  of  Electric  units  (v).  In  respect  to 
the  number  and  beauty  of  the  Illustrations,  the  work  is  quite  unique. 
2  vols.,  Svo,  36.C 

Pinto  {Major  Serpa).     See  "  How  I  Crossed  Africa." 

Plutarch's  Lives.  An  Entirely  New  and  Library  Edition. 
Edited  by  A.  H.  Clough,  Esq.  5  vols.,  8vo,  2/.  lew. ;  half-morocco, 
gilt  top,  3/.  Also  in  I  vol.,  royal  Svo,  800  pp.,  cloth  extra,  iSj.  ; 
half-bound,  2ls. 

Poems  of  the  Lnner  Life.     A  New  Edition,  Revised,  with  many 

additional  Poems.      Small  post  Svo,  cloth,  $s. 

Poganuc  People:  their  Loves  and  Lives.  By  Mrs.  Beecher 
Stowe.     Crown  Svo,  cloth,  6^. 

Polar  Expeditions.  See  Koldewey,  Markham,  MacGahan, 
and  Nares. 

Poynter  {Edward J.,  R.A.).     See  "  Illustrated  Text-books." 

Practical  {A)  Handbook  to  the  Principal  Schools  of  England. 
By  C.  E.  Pascoe.     New  Edition,  crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  3^.  bd. 

Prejevalsky  {N.  M. )  From  Kulja,  across  the  Tian  Shan  to  Lob- 
nor.  Translated  by  E.  Delmar  Morgan,  F.R.G.S.  Demy  Svo, 
with  a  Map.     i6j-. 

Primitive  Folk  Moots ;  or,  0/>en-Air  Assemblies  in  Britain. 
By  George  Laurence  Gomme,  F.S.A.,  Honorary  Secretary  to  the 
Folk-Lore  Society,  Author  of  "  Index  of  Municipal  Offices."  1  vol., 
crown  Svo,  cloth,  12s. 

This  work  deals  with  an  earlier  phase   of  the  history  of  English 
Institutions  than  has  yet  been  attempted. 

Publishers'  Circular  {The),  and  General  Record  of  British  and 
Foreign  Literature.     Published  on  the  1st  and  15th  of  every  Month,  3^. 

Pyrenees  {The).  By  Henry  Blackburn.  With  100  Illustra- 
tions by  Gustave  Dore,  a  New  Map  of  Routes,  and  Information  for 
Travellers,  corrected  to  1SS1.  With  a  description  of  Lourdes  in  1SS0. 
Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  "js.  6d. 


24  Sampson  Low,  Alarston,  &  Co.'s 

] JAMB  A  UD  {Alfred).     History  of  Russia,  from  its  Origin 
•*■  *■      to    the    Year    1877.     With  Six  Maps.     Translated  by  Mr3.   L.    B. 
I/1.2  vols.,  demy  Svo,  cloth  extra,  38J. 

Recollections  of  Writers.  By  Charles  and  Mary  Cowden 
Clarke.  Authors  of  "  The  Concordance  to  Shakespeare,"  &c.  ; 
with  Letters  of  Charles  Lamb,  Leigh  Hunt,  Douglas  Jerrold, 
and  Charles  Dickens  ;  and  a  Preface  by  Mary  Cowden  Clarke. 
Crown  8vo,  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

Remusat  {Madame  de).     See  "  Memoirs  of." 

Robinson  {Phil).  See  "  In  my  Indian  Garden,"  "  Under  the 
Punkah." 

Rochefoucauld s  Reflections.     Bayard  Series,  2s.  6d. 

Rogers  {S.)  Pleasures  of  Memory.  See  "  Choice  Editions  of 
Choice  Books."     2s.  6d. 

Rose  in  Bloom.     See  Alcott. 

The  Rose  Library.  Popular  Literature  of  all  countries.  Each 
volume,  is.  ;  cloth,  2s.  6d.     Many  of  the  Volumes  are  Illustrated — 

1.  Sea-Gull  Rock.     By  Jules  Sandeau.     Illustrated. 

2.  Little  Women.     By  LOUISA  M.  Alcott. 

3.  Little  Women  Wedded.     Forming  a  Sequel  to  "Little  Women. " 

4.  The  House  on  Wheels.     By  MADAME  de  Stolz.     Illustrated. 

5.  Little  Men.  By  Louisa  M.  Alcott.   Dble.  vol.,  2s. ;  cloth,  35.  6d. 

6.  The   Old-Fashioned    Girl.     P.y  Louisa   M.  ALCOTT.     Double 

vol.,  2s.  ;  cloth,  y.  6d. 

7.  The  Mistress  of  the  Manse.     By  J.  G.  Holland. 

8.  Timothy  Titcomb's  Letters  to  Young-  People,  Single  and 

Married. 

9.  Undine,  and  the  Two  Captains.     By  Baron  De  La  Mori  k 

FoUQUE.     A  New  Translation  by  F.  F.  BUNNETT.      Illustrated. 

10.  Draxy    Miller's  Dowry,   and    the    Elder's    Wife.     By  Saxe 

1  [OLM. 

11.  The   Four  Gold  Pieces.     By    Madame    GoURAUD.     Numerous 

Illustrations. 

12.  Work.     A  Story  of  Experience.     First  Portion.      By  Louisa    M. 

Alcott. 

13.  Beginning-   Apain.     Being   a    Continuation    of    "Work."      By 

Louisa  M.  Alcott. 

14.  Picciola;      or,    the   Prison    Flower.       By    X.    B.    Saintine. 

Numerous  Graphic  Illustrations. 


List  of  Publications.  2 5 


The  Rose  Library  {continued}  : — 

15.  Robert's  Holidays.     Illustrated. 

16.  The  Two  Children  of  St.  Domingo.     Numerous  Illustrations. 

17.  Aunt  Jo's  Scrap  Bag-. 

18.  Sto-we  (Mrs.  H,  B.)  The  Pearl  of  Orr's  Island. 
19. The  Minister's  Wooing-. 

20.   Betty's  Brigrht  Idea. 

21.   The  Ghost  in  the  Mill. 

22. Ca.ptain  Kidd's  Money. 

23.    We  and  our  Neighbours.     Double  vol.,  2s. 

24.  My  Wife  and  I.    Double  vol.,  2s.  ;  cloth,  gilt,  3J.  6d. 

25.  Hans  Brinker  ;  or,  the  Silver  Skates. 

26.  Lowell's  My  Study  Window. 

27.  Holmes  (O.  W.)  The  Guardian  Ang-el. 

28.  Warner  (C.  D.)  My  Summer  in  a  Garden. 

29.  Hitherto.    By  the  Author  of  "  The  Gayworthys."    2  vols.,  I  J.  each. 

30.  Helen's  Babies.     By  their  Latest  Victim. 

31.  The  Barton  Experiment.    By  the  Author  of  "  Helen's  Babies." 

32.  Dred.     By  Mrs.   Beecher   Stowe.     Double    vol.,    2s.  ;    cloth, 

gilt,  3J-.  6d. 

33.  Warner  (C.  D.)  In  the  Wilderness. 

34.  Six  to  One.     A  Seaside  Story. 

35.  Nothing  to  Wear,  and  Two  Millions. 

36.  Farm  Ballads.     By  Will  Carleton. 

Russell  (IV  Clarke).  See  "A  Sailor's  Sweetheart,"  3  vols., 
3U.  6d.  ;  "Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor,"  6s.  ;  "John  Holdsworth  (Chief 
Mate),"  6s. 

Russell  (IV.  ff.,  LL.D.)  The  Tour  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  in 
India.  By  W.  H.  Russell,  LL.D.  Fully  Illustrated  by  Sydney 
P.  Hall,  M.A.  Super-royal  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  52^.  6d. ; 
Large  Paper  Edition,  84^. 

VANCTA     Christina:   a  Story  of  the   First    Century.     By 
**-*      Eleanor  E.  Orlebar.    With  a  Preface  by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester. 
Small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  5^. 

Seonee  :  Sporting  in  the  Satpura  Range  of  Central  Lndia,  and  in 
the  Valley  of  the  Nerbudda.  By  R.  A.  Sterndale,  F.R.G.S.  8vo, 
with  numerous  Illustrations,  2ls. 

Seven  Years  in  South  Africa  :  Travels,  Researches,  and  Hunting 
Adventures  between  the  Diamond-Fields  and  the  Zambesi  (1872 — 
1879).  By  Dr.  Emil  Holub.  With  over  100  Original  Illustrations 
and  4  Maps.     In  2  vols.,  demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  42^. 


26  Sampson  Low,  Mars  ton,  6°  Co.'s 

Serpent  Charmer  (The) :  a  Tale  of  the  Indian  Mutiny.  By 
Louis  Rousselet,  Author  of  "India  and  its  Native  Princes." 
Numerous  Illustrations.  Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  "]s.  6J.  ; 
plainer  binding,  $s. 

Shakespeare   (The   Boudoir).     Edited   by    Henry   Cundell. 

Carefully  bracketted  for  reading  aloud  ;  freed  from  all  objectionable 
matter,  and  altogether  free  from  notes.  Price  is.  6d.  each  volume,  , 
cloth  extra,  gilt  edges.  Contents  : — Vol  I.,  Cymbeiine — Merchant  of 
Venice.  Each  play  separately,  paper  cover,  is.  Vol.  II.,  As  You 
Like  It — King  Lear — Much  Ado  about  Nothing.  Vol.  III.,  Romeo 
and  Juliet — Twelfth  Night — King  John.  The  latter  six  plays  sepa- 
rately, paper  cover,  gd. 

Shakespeare  Key  ( The).  Forming  a  Companion  to  "  The 
Complete  Concordance  to  Shakespeare."  By  Charles  and  Mary 
Cowden  Clarke.     Demy  Svo,  800  pp.,  21s. 

Shooting:  its  Appliances,  Practice,  and  Purpose.  By  James 
Dalziel  Dougall,  F.S.A.,  F.Z.A.,  Author  of  "Scottish  Field 
Sports,"  &c.     Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  10s.  6d. 

"The  book  is  admirable  in  every  way We  wish  it  every  success." — Globe. 

"A  very  complete  treatise Likely  to  take  high  rank  as  an  authority  on 

shooting." — Daily  News. 

Silent  Hour  (The).     See  "  Gentle  Life  Series." 

Silver  Pitchers.     See  Alcott. 

Simon  (yules).     See  "  Government  of  M.  Thiers." 

Six  to  One.     A  Seaside  Story.     161110,  boards,  is. 

Smith  (G.)  Assyrian  Explorations  and  Discoveries.  By  the  late 
George  Smith.  Illustrated  by  Photographs  and  Woodcuts.  Demy 
Svo,  6th  Edition,  l2>s. 

The   Chaldean  Account   of    Genesis.       By    the    late 

(',.   Smith,  of  the  Department  of  Oriental  Antiquities.  British  Museum. 
With  many  Illustrations.     Demy  Svo,  cloth  extra,  6th  Edition,  i6j. 

An  entirely  New  Edition,  completely  revised  and  re- 
written by  the  Rev.  Professor  Savce,  Queen's  College,  Oxford. 
1  )tiiiy  Svo,  1  Si. 

Snow-Shoes  and  Canoes ;  or,  the  Adventures  of  a  Fur-Hunter 
in  the  Hudson's  Pay  Territory.  By  W.  II.  G.  Kingston.  2nd 
Edition.  With  numerous  Illustrations.  Square  crown  Svo,  cloth 
extra,  gilt  edges,  Js.  6./.  ;  plainer  binding,  5-r. 


List  of  Publications.  2  7 


Songs  and  Etchings  in  Shade  and  Sunshine.  By  J.  E.  G. 
Illustrated  with  44  Etchings.     Small  4to,  cloth,  gilt  tops,  25^. 

South  African  Campaign,  1879  {The).  Compiled  by  J.  P. 
MacKinnon  (formerly  72nd  Highlanders),  and  S.  H.  SHADBOLT  ; 
and  dedicated,  by  permission,  to  Field-Marshal  H.R.H.  The  Duke 
of  Cambridge.     4to,  handsomely  bound  in  cloth  extra,  2/.  10s. 

South  Kensington  Museum.     Published,   with  the  sanction  of 

the  Science  and  Art  Department,  in  Monthly  Parts,  each  con- 
taining S  Plates,  price  u.  Volume  I.,  containing  12  numbers,  hand- 
somely bound,  i6j-. 

Stanley  (Id.  M.)  How  I  Found  Livingstone.     Crown  8vo,  cloth 

extra,  "js.  6d.  ;  large  Paper  Edition,  ioj.  6d. 


"My   Kaluluf   Prince,    King,    and  Slave.     A    Story 

from  Central  Africa.    Crown  8vo,  about  430  pp. ,  with  numerous  graphic 
Illustrations,  after  Original  Designs  by  the  Author.     Cloth,  "js.  6d. 

Coomassie   and  Magdala.      A  Story    of  Two  British 


Campaigns  in  Africa.     Demy  Svo,  with  Maps  and  Illustrations,  16.C 
Through  the  Dark  Continent,  which  see. 


Story  of  a  Mountain  (The).  By  E.  Reclus.  Translated  by 
Bertha  Ness.  Svo,  with  Illustrations,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edge*, 
7J-.  6d. 

Story  of  a  Soldiers  Life  (The)  ;  or,  Peace,  War,  and  Mutiny. 
By  Lieut. -General  John  Alexander  Ewart,  C.B.,  Aide-de-Camp 
to  the  Queen  from  1859  to  1872.  2  vols.,  demy  Svo,  with  Illustra- 
tions. 

Story  of  the  Zulu  Campaign  (The).  By  Major  Ashe  -(late 
King's  Dragoon  Guards),  and  Captain  the  Hon.  E.  V.  WYATT- 
Edgell  (late  17th  Lancers,  killed  at  Ulundi).  Dedicated  by  special 
permission  to  Her  Imperial  Highness  the  Empress  Eugenie.     8vo,  16s. 

Story  without  an  End.  Erom  the  German  of  Carove,  by  the  late- 
Mrs.  Sarah  T.  Austin.  Crown  4to,  with  15  Exquisite  Drawings 
by  E.  V.  B.,  printed  in  Colours  in  Fac-simile  of  the  original  Water 
Colours ;  and  numerous  other  Illustrations.     New  Edition,  Js.  6d. 

■ square  4to,  with  Illustrations  by  Harvey.     2s.  6d. 


Stowe  (Mrs.  Beecher)  Dred.     Cheap  Edition,  boards,  2s.  Cloth, 
gilt  edges,  31.  6d. 


2  8  Sampson  Low,  Mars  ton,  6°  Co.'s 

Stowe  (Mrs.  Beechef)  Footsteps  of  the  Master.     With  Illustra- 
tions and  red  borders.     Small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Geography,  with  6o  Illustrations.     Square  cloth,  4s.  6d. 


Little   Foxes.     Cheap    Edition,   is. ;  Library  Edition, 

4?.  6d. 

Betty's  Bright  Ldea.      is. 


■  My    Wife    and  I;    or,   Harry   Henderson's   History. 

Small  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s.  * 

Ministers  Wooing.   5s.;  Copyright  Series,  is.  6d.;  cl.,  2s* 

Old  Town  Folk.     6s.;  Cheap  Edition,  2s.  6d. 

Old  Town  Fireside  Stories.     Cloth  extra,  y.  6d. 

Our  Folks  at  Potranuc.     10s.  6d. 


We  and  our  Neighbours.     1  vol.,  small  post  8vo,  6s. 

Sequel  to  "My  Wife  and  I."* 

Fink  and   White  Tyranny.     Small  post  8vo,  3s.  6d. 


Cheap  Edition,  is.  6d.  and  zs. 

Queer  Little  People,     is. ;  cloth,  2s. 

Chimney  Corner,     is. ;  cloth,  is.  6d. 

The  Pearl  of  Orr's  Island.     Crown  8vo,  $s.* 

— —  Little  Pussey  Willow.     Fcap.,  2s. 


Woman    in    Sacred   History.       Illustrated    with     15 

Chromo-lithographs   and   about   200   pages   of  Letterpress.       Dem 
4to,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  255. 

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Lecons  de Conversation  et  de Grammaire."  Square  crown  Svo,  cloth,  zs 

Studies  in  German  Literature.  By  Bayard  Taylor.  Edited 
by  MARIS  TAYLOR.  With  an  Introduction  by  the  Hon.  George 
II.  BOKER,      Svo,  cloth  extra,  IOJ.  6d. 

*  See  also  Rose  Library. 


List  of  Publications.  2  9 


Studies  in  the  Theory  of  Descent.     By  Dr.  Aug.  Weismann, 

Professor  in  the  University  of  Freiburg.  Translated  and  edited  by 
Raphael  Meldola,  F.C.S.,  Secretary  of  the  Entomological  Society 
of  London.  Part  I.  — "On  the  Seasonal  Dimorphism  of  Butterflies," 
containing  Original  Communications  by  Mr.  W.  H.  EDWARDS,  of 
Coalburgh.  With  two  Coloured  Plates.  Price  of  Part.  I.  (to  Sub- 
scribers for  the  whole  work  only),  Ss ;  Part  II.  (6  coloured  plates),  i6j-.  ; 
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Sugar  Beet  {The).     Including  a  History  of  the    Beet   Sugar 

Industry  in  Europe,  Varieties  of  the  Sugar  Beet,  Examination,  Soils, 
Tillage,  Seeds  and  Sowing,  Yield  and  Cost  of  Cultivation,  Harvesting, 
Transportation,  Conservation,  Feeding  Qualities  of  the  Beet  and  of 
the  Pulp,  &c.     By  L.  S.  Ware.     Illustrated.     8vo,  cloth  extra,  21s. 

Sullivan  {A.  M.,  M.P.).     See  "  New  Ireland." 

Sulphuric  Acid  (A  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Manufacture  of). 
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77  Construction  Plates,  and  other  Illustrations.    Royal  8vo,  2/.  12s.  6d. 

Sumner  {Hon.  Charles).     See  Life  and  Letters. 

Sunrise:  A  Story  of  These  Times.  By  William  Black, 
Author  of  "  A  Daughter  of  Heth,"  &c.     3  vols.,  31s.  6d. 

Surgeon's  Handbook  on  the  Treatment  of  Wounded  in  War.  By 
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Kiel,  and  Surgeon-General  to  the  Prussian  Army.  Translated  by 
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Sylvan  Spring.     By  Francis  George  Heath.     Illustrated  by 

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100  other  Wood  Engravings.    Large  post  Svo,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  \2s.  6d. 


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{B.)  German  and  English  Dictionary.    Cloth,  is.  6d.; 


roan,  2s, 

Trench  and  English.     Paper,  is.  6d. ;  cloth,  2s. ;  roan 

2s.  6d. 


30      Sampson  Zo?e>,  Marston,  6°  Co.'s  List  of  Publications. 

Tauchnitz  (B.)   Italian  and  English  Dictionary.   Paper,  is.  6d.; 
cloth,  2s.  ;  roan,  is.  6</. 

Spanish  and  English.     Paper,  is.  6d. ;  cloth,  2s.  ;  roan, 


2s.  6d. 
New  Testament.     Cloth,  2s. ;  gilt,  2s.  6d. 


Taylor  {Bayard).     See  "  Studies  in  German  Literature." 

Through  America  ;  or,  Nine  Months  in  the  United  States.  By 
W.  G.  Marshall,  M.A.  With  nearly  ioo  Woodcuts  of  Views  of 
Utah  country  and  the  famous  Yosemite  Valley  ;  The  Giant  Trees, 
New  York,  Niagara,  San  Francisco,  &c. ;  containing  a  full  account 
of  Mormon  Life,  as  noted  by  the  Author  during  his  visits  to  Salt  Lake 
City  in  1878  and  1879.      In  I  vol.,  demy  8vo,  2ls. 

Through  the  Dark  Continent :  The  Sources  of  the  Nile  ;  Around 
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under  the  Sea.     Part  I. 

Ditto.  Part  II. 

Hector  Servadac      .     .     . 

The  Fur  Country     .     . 

From  the  Earth  to  the 
Moon  and  a  Trip  round 
it 

Michael  Strogoff,  the 
Courier  of  the  Czar  .     . 

Dick  Sands,  the  Boy 
Captain 

Five  Weeks  in  a  Balloon  . 

Adventures  of  Three  En- 
glishmen and  Three 
Russians 

Around  the  World  in 
Eighty  Days     .     .     . 

A  Floating  City  .     . 

The  Blockade  Runners 

Dr.  Ox's  Experiment    . 

Master  Zacharius     .     . 

A  Drama  in  the  Air 

A  Winter  amid  the  Ice 

The  Survivors  of  the 
"  Chancellor  " .     .     . 

Martin  Paz      .... 

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Clouds     

Vol.  II.  Abandoned      .     . 

Vol.  III.  Secret  of  the  Is- 
land 

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The  Begum's  Fortune  .     . 

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Chinaman 

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32     Sampson  Loiv,  Marston,  6°  Co.'s  List  of  Publications. 

JJ/ALLER  {Rev.  C.  II)  The  Names  on  the  Gates  of  Pearl, 
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